my jaw hurts

[uCtaudio]

My jaw hurts like he**, i cant eat other things than soup. it came yesterday, after a long sax-workout. It happend 1/2 a year ago to. i though it was becouse i was biting, but now i stopped doing that and my "emochure" is relaxed (i think). could it be i put on to mutch air pressure? (we're talking *mutch* pressure... playd a realy loud bigband tune for 2 days now!).

it only hurts on the left side, as mutch as i cant eat.... but only hurts when i try to eat/putt on pressure, not if i hold it still.

Have anyone else experienced this? or know how i can prevent it in the future?

(I have the half year test on monday, gona play the 1. movment of the Boutry divertemento+ a ferling etude, and have a bigband weekend with one of the coolest bigbandleaders in norway, and i'm not sure if i can pull this off!!!) I practice usualy 2-3 houers a day or more

uCtaudio

[KJ]

You need to consult a doctor about this. that joint (the TMJ) can cause problems for sax players if you let problems persist. (Take it from me- I've had tmj surgery on both sides of my jaw that effectively ended my prof. career)
The doctor may prescribe somthing that will keep the joint from getting worse...
good luck...

[Dan000892]

I've had tmj surgery on both sides of my jaw that effectively ended my prof. career)

Do you mean that the TMJ ended your career, or that the surgery did? I currently have TMJ in one side of my jaw that is quite a nuisance especially since it pops very often. However, if surgery could potentially prevent me from playing sax, I would turn it down...

[sanbornfan]

I have struggled with TMJ for quiet a while until I made 2 significant lifestyle changes:
1) I really make sure that my embouchure remains entirely relaxed at all times in all registers (including palm keys and altissimo) and I now take 5 min breaks after each 15 min of sax playing
2) I do the jaw exercises as recommended in the book "Taking control of TMJ" by Robert O. Uppgaard

Good luck. :)

[KJ]

Dan,
The TMJ has caused me to have to play the sax less. (I was playing six or seven nights a weeks and travelling alot playing sessions, tours, etc...)
However, my TMJ problems were caused by an assault, not from playing the sax (the sax just made it worse afterwords), so my case is unique...

[Dan000892]

Ohh, my TMJ isn't that severe.
The only thing inhibiting me from playing is my knuckles locking up (the second from the tip on the pinkys and sometimes my ring finger too), but that only seems to happen on clarinet.
Perhaps if I was better, I'd deal with it.
Perhaps if I dealt with it, I'd be better. :?

Perhaps it's just stress, perhaps it's just all the close-range movement. I have no problem on bass clarinet and I can play anything I would on Clarinet on Bass Clarinet. Perhaps I should try a soprano sax and see how my knuckles fair.

[orions_belt27]

yea i have teh knuckles locking problem too.. is there any thing dat can be done to improve the situation? it gets quite bad sometimes..

[Dan000892]

ok, new thread for the knuckle problem!