Overuse syndrome

[tbdana]

I'm suffering from it right now. Since picking up the trombone again about a year ago, this is my second bout with it. My overuse is evidenced by:

*Decreased endurance
*High range suffering
*Low range suffering
*Starting to occasionally splat notes on loud articulations
*Chops swollen and painful after every practice/rehearsal/gig
*Recovery is slow

I had this problem last December when I was extremely busy. And I'm very busy now, practicing hard and playing rehearsals/gigs almost every day and sometimes multiple per day. I don't have time to rest, and won't until May.

At this point, no one can tell I'm having a problem. Only I know. But it's unsustainable, and at some point I'm going to need a good bit of rest. I never encountered this when I was young. I could play forever. I practiced 8 hours a day and played all manner of rehearsals and gigs, some that were very loud (rock, salsa, etc.), and I had chops of steel. But now that I'm in my late 60s and am still working my way back to peak form, I've encountered this problem twice. And the time it takes to recover from swollen chops is much longer than it used to be.

Any advice from people who have dealt with something like this?

[Wilktone]

I’d have to watch you play. The symptoms you describe aren’t uncommon. It’s usually more than playing a lot that does this, it’s playing a lot with some incorrect form. Often the form is good - until you get tired.

Rest helps, but the best long term solution is to work out what’s happening and correct it.

Doug Elliott is great at this stuff, as you’ve heard. He teaches via video chat. I also teach video lessons.

Dave

[Burgerbob]

Gotta schedule days off in the week. Once a week is best, but obviously not always possible... I try to get at least one every three weeks. I will look forward in the calendar and find a day to take a rest- no playing of any kind on that day.

[GGJazz]

Hi all.

I saw this overuse syndrome also in players that were playing super - correctly , but that really abuse of their embouchure .
Lead players performing 10 hours a day in studio recording sessions , or playing heavy gigs nigth after nigth , ecc .

As a teacher , I also saw this issue on players that had bad habits , of course.

In this case , I have understood that Tbdana was stopping playing from maybe 10/15 years , according what he wrote in some posts .
So , I guess that after such a period of time , a player chops totally disappear . One have to rebuilt them as for an absolute beginner . In my opinion , it take at least three years or so , before to attempt to play as a full professional player . One year , for a returning player, is a too short period of time , in my opinion .

With these symptoms , things can just be worse and worse . I suggest a period of rest , then starting again with some expert teacher advices .

Regards
Giancarlo

[heldenbone]

On especially heavy playing days, a little ibuprofen early in the morning can do wonders as a prophylaxis.

[Posaunus]

Dana,

You are getting good advice here. TromboneChat can be a terrific resource.

Doug Elliott or Dave Wilken could be very helpful in addressing possible embouchure issues.

But you'll also have to accept that you are not the young trombone stud you were before you took a decades-long break. As my mother-in-law once counseled, growing old ain't for sissies!

Pace yourself.

Good luck!

[tbdana]

I’d have to watch you play. The symptoms you describe aren’t uncommon. It’s usually more than playing a lot that does this, it’s playing a lot with some incorrect form.

With respect, I am not concerned with incorrect playing.

[Gfunk]

You might benefit it from considering a more holistic approach. There’s a lot of things to ask here, many of which I’m sure you’re aware of, but I’ll name some and maybe they’ll help figure out an area or two that’s worth exploring.

How has your sleep been? Is it regular?
Are you staying hydrated?
Are you getting enough nutrients and sustenance?
Are you moving your body every day? If not, walks are great.
Is there somewhere your body likes to hold tension? Does it get exacerbated when you get tired (chop wise or other)?
Are there any notable lifestyle changes that happened in December or recently?

Some or none of these aspects of your holistic health may have an impact on your current issues, but my gut thought is that there are a few small changes you could make to help your body work with you. And that almost always yields positive outcomes for trombone playing, in my experience.

EDIT: I forgot to mention it, but for me bad chop days are very frequently accompanied by not getting enough water. It makes a big difference, especially for recovery and endurance. I make sure to drink water before bed each night. Our bodies can often end up dehydrated in the morning otherwise.

[tbdana]

You might benefit it from considering a more holistic approach. There’s a lot of things to ask here, many of which I’m sure you’re aware of, but I’ll name some and maybe they help figure out an area or two that’s worth exploring.

How has your sleep been? Is it regular?
Are you staying hydrated?
Are you getting enough nutrients and sustenance?
Are you moving your body every day? If not, walks are great.
Is there somewhere your body likes to hold tension? Does it get exacerbated when you get tired (chop wise or other)?
Are there any notable lifestyle changes that happened in December or recently?

Some or none of these aspects of your holistic health may have an impact on your current issues, but my gut thought is that there are a few small changes you could make to help your body work with you. And that almost always yields positive outcomes for trombone playing, in my experience.

Yeah, like lots of older Americans my sleep is bad, my diet and exercise could use improvement, and I'm filled with constant stress. As for lifestyle, well, it's been winter. So there's that.

[harrisonreed]

Dana, it sounds like it could be the start of focal dystonia. Overuse, regardless of your playing being correct or not, builds up over time and tears you down.

Phil Smith described similar things happening in the years leading into his retirement. "Nobody could notice at first. I could muscle through it. Then split notes started happening."

I don't know how familiar you are with his story.

The only insight I can offer, when I was going through years of poor endurance, range, split tones in the uper register, jaw pain, etc, no amount of training or working through the pain improved anything. There might as well be no muscle in the human face to train, those muscles are so small. It's all fine motor control, not strength. So the "chops of steel" comment, which of course we all know what it means, is kind of worrying if you think that working through the pain and swelling is going to build strength. I don't think it will.

The ultimate solution for me, which is unfortunately equipment related, was to move from a 1.01" rim diameter to a 1.06" rim diameter (about a 5G to 2G rim). It was seriously less than a day and the painful issues went away. The endurance improvement quickly surpassed anywhere I had ever been, and never stopped improving to this day. Probably not what you want to hear, but I'd encourage you to take rest, and *not* think you can force through the work on overtrained muscles. The face muscles are not really going to get any stronger no matter what we do.

[Doug Elliott]

I’d have to watch you play. The symptoms you describe aren’t uncommon. It’s usually more than playing a lot that does this, it’s playing a lot with some incorrect form.

With respect, I am not concerned with incorrect playing.

Well, good luck then.
"Overuse syndrome" is a BS diagnosis. The actual problem IS incorrect playing, maybe with a mouthpiece that encourages the incorrectness instead if encouraging correctness.

[tbdana]

Well, good luck then.
"Overuse syndrome" is a BS diagnosis. The actual problem IS incorrect playing, maybe with a mouthpiece that encourages the incorrectness instead if encouraging correctness.

Oh, I don't have a diagnosis. I just slapped that label on what I'm dealing with. I figure I'm struggling from overuse, the same way I used to struggle from overuse (over-training) when I was a marathon runner. Sometimes, if you do something repetitive too much, the body just breaks down and doesn't work as well until you let it heal. My problem here is that I won't have any down time until May, and I just need a strategy to get through this period. I can stop practicing and play as little as possible in between rehearsals/gigs. But if there's another way to deal with it, I want to know it.

If not "overuse syndrome," what would you call it when you just play too much, every day for a long time? I'll adopt whatever the correct term is.

[Mr412]

I think the advanced technical term is: "too pooped to party". You need a dose of Vitameatavegamin. It's so tasty, too!

[WilliamLang]

The older we get, the harder it is to stay in great shape in any physical endeavor, instrument playing included. You gotta learn to fight smarter, not harder, and take more time for recovery between gigs when possible. That and a glass of water before sleep and right after sleep, alongside an advil a day, can help.

If you don't have down time or make time for down time, then you might risk an injury and not get those gigs anyway. As far as other strategies for getting through this, I like using the Cimera Etudes as a shorter version of the Rochuts so that I get lots of fundamental middle register playing in without too much stress on the embochure/body.

Best of luck with the next few months.

[Doug Elliott]

It's "type switching" where as you get tired you start doing things wrong, using the mechanics of a different embouchure type than what your face really is.

I'm not going to get into explaining what that means - if you don't understand the embouchure types I'm talking about it won't mean anything to you.

But when you do understand, you can keep your correct form happening and not break down.

[Posaunus]

Whatever happened to "Use it or lose it"?

[Bach5G]

“… alongside an advil a day …”

I’d be a little careful with this advice being neither a pharmacist nor a physician. NSAIDs can be hard on the stomach. If you think it’s an inflammation issue, maybe look at a tumeric supplement or an anti-inflammatory diet.

Maybe a tuneup with one of our embouchure experts or maybe just a short break from strenuous playing?

[Wilktone]

I’d be a little careful with this advice being neither a pharmacist nor a physician.

Thank you for raising this point.

Personally, I'm careful with any medical advice, since I'm not qualified to offer it. Nor would I suggest to a brass musician that they're developing a medical condition. I don't think I would do anyone a favor by mentioning focal dystonia or overuse syndrome as a possibility. What I do recommend is they speak to a medical professional for a medical diagnosis.

I'm more qualified to offer embouchure advice (at least a little more), so that's the lane I'll stay in.

With respect, I am not concerned with incorrect playing.

Well, you asked for advice from folks who had experienced what you are going through. I should have made it more obvious when I posted that I understand from personal experience what it's like to have chop problems. More than once. In my personal experience, when that's happened, it's been because I was deviating from my correct embouchure type and form.

Other than embouchure mechanics, the thoughts that it's related to taking a significant amount of time off and then coming back to it might have something to do with that. But I don't know that history, just what Giancarlo wrote of it.

Maybe there is a medical issue going on. If you suspect that's the case, definitely talk with your primary care physician and get a referral to a specialist, if warranted. Especially if you're having symptoms that aren't related to trombone playing.

I find it hard to self-diagnose my own playing. I do record myself and go back to critique them, but it's not as good as getting someone else to check out my playing and comment. I do this with friends and colleagues more informally these days, but I still seek out private lessons from time to time. I figure if the top professional athletes value coaches, maybe there's something to that.

Dave

[Kbiggs]

This isn’t advice. These are short-term strategies to make it through the day. It is what I’ve done before when I’ve had symptoms similar to what you’re describing. Feel free to do what you want.

Soft warm-up with an abbreviated routine, correct mechanics all over—embouchure, left hand posture, right hand posture, back and hips. Watching yourself in a mirror can help.

Yes, I’ve used ibuprofen or naproxen; NSAIDs are generally safe to use, but check with your doctor to make sure you don’t have any conditions that would preclude using NSAIDs.

Play only when needed during the day.

At the end of a session—practice session, rehearsal, whatever—warm down. Scales on middle Bb down two octaves, piano. Then, use ice as needed. Fill a glass with water and some ice, dunk your mouthpiece for 15-20 seconds, massage around your embouchure for 15-20 seconds. Repeat for 5-10 minutes. Your lips will feel cold, but don’t let them become numb.

Next session, warm-up gently, only as needed. Repeat as needed throughout the day.

Drink PLENTY of water throughout the day. Avoid alcohol. If you use caffeine, keep using it. Get plenty of rest, eat good food. Light exercise if you can fit it in.

Again, feel free to do what you want.

[CaptEquinox]

I think you probably just need to back off a bit. That could be one day off (or maybe three if you can). Thereafter, balancing the playing and the resting as you feel you're getting back up to snuff. Also: have faith in your own experiences with all this. Reflect on what that is, and how it worked in the past.

The trombone intelligentsia is great and everything, but on the other hand there's sometimes a knee-jerk quality to it.

[EriKon]

Some of the replies are really interesting to say the least... Trombone playing doesn't need any form of medical input and I would be careful with starting to take painkillers or other things on a regular basis unless you have some inflammation going on somewhere. But it doesn't sound like it. Taking medicine for not suffering while playing or getting better is definitely fighting on the wrong frontline.

Dana said, she's still practicing a lot in addition to her gigs and rehearsals. I would try to reduce the amount of practice if possible if you're that busy right now. Limit your practice to a short technical program (maybe as a warm-up), nothing else. If charts need practicing, do that without the horn.

Also not a huge fan of the 'days off' method. Especially if it's longer than just a day. Three days is way too long imo. Also, I don't see lots of evidence that our embouchure muscles need rest. Playing a brass instrument is not really a matter of strength but of skillfulness (in terms of how efficient you can use the right muscles). There are lots of muscles in our body that never rest. Our heart just makes one final rest. Many of our orbicular muscles don't need rest at all and our lip muscles fall into the same group of muscles. Every now and then I would have one day where I just play some long tones and some slurs for about 20-25mins in front of a mirror and nothing else as a 'recovery day', but it's more like just checking that everything is in the right place again technically.

As some others mentioned, I would definitely have at least one expert in terms of brass technique let take a look at your playing. Maybe someone you trust. Dave and Doug are great addresses in here of course, but there are for sure other cats out there with good knowledge. Malte Burba method (better known in Europe than US) could be interesting to look at too, but it really just makes sense with a teacher using that method. And a lot of it is on line with things I heard from Doug or that Doug told me in the few lessons I had with him.

General advice like staying hydrated, getting in some sort of movement or sports throughout the day is always beneficial not only for playing.

[Lastbone]

Things have changed for me in my late (ha!) sixties... My chops suffer quite a bit when I have fries, chips or pop in the car on the way to rehearsals; the salt and acid really tightens them up and the playing suffers. I've also learned not to play before lunch -- the morning practices usually stink and I wind up frustrated. This was not an issue when I worked full time, since I was doing something else in the AM. Working.

You may also find that peak form is different than when you were young. I used to think that I was pretty hot and could play anything, but looking back, I was maybe not very particular about my sound.

Good luck on your journey.

[GGJazz]

Hi folks.

I do not think that "overuse" is a BS definition of a problem.

Doug Elliott wrote : 《 as you get tired you start doing things wrong , etc》 .
Exactly this :the key is 《as you get tired 》 . Getting tired ; keep playing ; doing wrong things .
Wrong things are a consequence caused by overuse . But you can not avoid this .

Can a player , even who plays super- correctly , perform TWO HOURS of double high F whole tones with no rest in between ?
No , he can' t . After a while , he will start to do something wrong , caused by physical exertion . Even if he know how to play correctly , he can't overcome this.

No mouvements of our body can be replicated in a correct way ENDLESSLY .
So , when you start to do things incorrectly is BECAUSE an overuse of your body .
So , in my opinion the OVERUSE is a real thing , that cause the problems .

To me , "overuse" simply means : going BEYOND our possibilities .

This is my point of wiew , of course.

Regards
Giancarlo

[JohnL]

I do not think that "overuse" is a BS definition of a problem.

I think that the issue isn't the term "overuse", but "overuse syndrome".

[Doug Elliott]

"when you start to do things incorrectly is BECAUSE an overuse of your body ."

Wrong. But it's sort of useless to talk about this without the context of embouchure types and what constitutes correct form and incorrect form for the different embouchure types.

In most cases players don't really know what their correct form really is, from.the beginning. So you don't know when you're doing something that seems to work but is actually tearing you down. That's what musicians do - make it work, the show must go on.

As an example that I frequently use (and Dave mentioned it recently): you can lift with your legs and you can lift with your back. When you're young it's easy to lift with your back - maybe easier than using you legs. Does that make it "more correct" than using your legs? At that point do you know the difference? Is the back pain that starts years later from overuse? Or because you were doing it wrong from the beginning?

Are playing problems that start in your 40's, 50's or 60's the result of "overuse" or "dystonia," or because you've been tearing yourself down without knowing it, doing the same things that worked when you were younger?

Incorrect form happens because you don't know it's incorrect.

[GGJazz]

Hi.

Doug , of course I agree with you , being you an expert of these subjects .
Maybe I do not explain my point in a clear way , so I' ll try again .

I guess that a player , expecially in young age , can have same bad habits without knowing it , and he can play fine because his strenght allow him to do it . That' s a different point.

What I guess is that a musician , who plays correctly, can start at the beginning of a session playing correctly , but after let say three hours , getting tired but still keeping on playing , he can fall in bad habits , as consequence of this . So , one start playing in a correct way , and ends in a wrong way , because of the overuse , in the SAME day . This could be because the very challenging sessions that we have to do , in modern playing business . I think that this , slowly , lead to bad habits in a permanent way , day after day .

The "extreme hypotetical "explample I made above , playing a double high F for two hours with no rest , tried to explain this point . You start playing these tones super- correctly , but after , let say , 30 minutes , if you keep going on this performance , you will start to do wrong things . Maybe knowing you are doing wrong , but being not able to play correctly anymore , because you feel too much physical exertion . If you stop before this point , no bad habits happens at all . Of course , this have to be related to very taxing performance only .

So , I think that maybe Tbdana is playing correctly , but , being a returning player after a 10/15 years break , he can not support heavy practice/ sessions performance day after day , being only one year that he is blowing on the horn again .

Again , that' s only my point.
Regards

Giancarlo

[Wilktone]

Giancarlo, it's worth considering that even in your hypothetical examples you admit there is incorrect embouchure mechanics happening. The thing to understand, I think, is that the reason we slip into bad form when we get tired is because those habits are underlying in the first place. More commonly, I see bad habits being present when the player is fresh and it's only when the player starts getting tired that the issues start up.

I have definitely felt my correct form slipping on the third set. I have certain playing habits that I know are incorrect and I've worked on fixing them during practice. However, those habits are ingrained still enough that when I start getting tired it's harder to avoid them. But being aware of them allows me to notice when it happens and minimize the tearing down that happens.

More importantly, being aware of my embouchure type and my correct embouchure form helps me to practice in a way that good mechanics becomes the habit that I slip into when I start to get tired.

I haven't watched tbdana play, but if I had swollen and painful chops after every playing session I would be concerned.

Dave

[tbdana]

So the consensus is that I can't just be old and over-tired without any recovery time off, while trying to come back after 30 years of not playing, it has to be some underlying defect in my embouchure.

Sigh...

Sorry I asked.

[Burgerbob]

Honestly, you need to take the ego out of this and accept that you could possibly be playing in some slightly incorrect way.

[Kbiggs]

So the consensus is that I can't just be old and over-tired without any recovery time off, while trying to come back after 30 years of not playing, it has to be some underlying defect in my embouchure.

Sigh...

Sorry I asked.

Not necessarily. It doesn’t “have to be” from what I read above. It’s likely, given what we’ve been told, and the responses from those here on TC who’ve cared to chime in.

Perhaps “misuse when tired” or “too much too quickly” might be more apt than “overuse.”

[Mr412]

You must need new hardware, then. There has to be a thread around here somewhere for that purpose. This is a predominantly musically driven chat group, though, you know.

[EriKon]

So the consensus is that I can't just be old and over-tired without any recovery time off, while trying to come back after 30 years of not playing, it has to be some underlying defect in my embouchure.

Sigh...

Sorry I asked.

That's some serious oversimplification of many very detailed responses above. Not super nice, when you're asking for 'help' or input. And if you think you know what's the problem, why did you ask for help or ideas in the first place?

[Wilktone]

So the consensus is that I can't just be old and over-tired without any recovery time off, while trying to come back after 30 years of not playing, it has to be some underlying defect in my embouchure.

Sigh...

Sorry I asked.

Again, I haven’t watched you play. And I don’t know your specific playing schedule either or how demanding they are. Or what your health is like, etc.

I’m only qualified to talk about playing technique. You can ignore everything I have to say, if you don’t find it helpful. But other people may see this because they are looking for advice with a similar situation.

You do you!

Dave

[chouston3]

How much can you do before things start to go bad?

[SteveM]

A couple points might be worth making.

First, you say you're in your late 60s. A lot can change in your teeth, gums, jaw and tongue as you get older (I know, I'm in my early 70s). It's possible that what used to work, embouchure-wise, no longer works for you quite as well.

Second, no matter how fine a player you may be, nobody is so good that they don't need to consult an expert teacher at times. I once read that JJ Johnson would take a lesson with Donald Reinhardt when he would start to struggle with his high range. One of the people on this forum who has offered some ideas, Doug Elliott, studied with Reinhardt for many years and is a renowned expert on brass embouchure. Maybe it's worth considering a check-up with an expert?

[tbdana]

How much can you do before things start to go bad?

It's not like that. I'm not explaining it well, how it manifests. It's not like things "go bad" in the middle of a gig. But, take yesterday/today as a good example of what I'm wrestling with. I had a rehearsal and two shows yesterday. Very heavy playing throughout, and no rest between charts. The leader just segues from one tune to another without any talking or time between. 7 hours playing, total. And I was fine at the end of the night. Tired, but okay.

But this morning when I woke up, my chops were swollen. They weren't swollen on the gig, and they weren't swollen when I went to bed. But this morning they are swollen and I have to play a matinee show in a few hours. So I'm icing my chops for breakfast, and trying to get them back to normal. But if today follows the pattern, they probably won't get all the way back before I have to start playing again, and my high and low ranges will be reduced and my endurance will suffer.

This is the kind of cycle I'm having.

Thankfully, today is a light day and I have only one show, so things will probably return to normal by tomorrow. But, then, I have two rehearsals and a gig tomorrow. That's the problem: I wake up stiff and swollen, and it takes longer to recover, and I don't have days off. I get things back to functional, but then I'm right back at it without a single day of rest. In my 20s this wouldn't have been a problem. In my 60s it is.

Whether all this beating up my chops without rest causes me to do things incorrectly when I'm tired isn't the issue. Lessons aren't going to help me now. I need short term strategies for getting through this busy period. When I have the luxury of time then maybe I can have someone take a look at my embouchure. But I'm in the middle of a marathon right now, and I don't have the time or inclination to try to change things at the moment. I just need to get through this period.

[Doug Elliott]

That is exactly the symptom of type switching that I mentioned.

[tbdana]

That is exactly the symptom of type switching that I mentioned.

Well, when I get through this period maybe I'll ask you to take a look at my embouchure, if you're willing to. If doing that will avoid this happening again, I'd be grateful. But I don't understand "type switching," and right now, I'm just trying to get through this period of no rest, and trying to change my embouchure or experimenting with it in the middle of a marathon isn't something I'm willing to risk. I don't mean to sound ungrateful or unwilling, but if the solution isn't easy and can be implemented successfully immediately, this ain't the time to start experimenting.

[tbdana]

Again, I haven’t watched you play. And I don’t know your specific playing schedule either or how demanding they are. Or what your health is like, etc.

I’m only qualified to talk about playing technique. You can ignore everything I have to say, if you don’t find it helpful. But other people may see this because they are looking for advice with a similar situation.

You do you!

Dave

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm certainly willing to diagnose and correct anything I'm doing improperly. In fact, when I get through this period I'm definitely going to seek out analysis. But I need to get through this period. I feel like in the middle of a prize fight isn't the time to work on correcting your jab technique. You have to survive the fight, first, and then give it a go.

[Doug Elliott]

It's really not much of a change, just better understanding of how your chops need to work.
I'm away all this week.

[baileyman]

In the short term, athlete's do rest, ice, compression, elevation (RICE). Perhaps in addition to your ice some kind of compression could squeeze the inflammation fluids out. Elevation works for legs, maybe not for chops.

In addition, they'll use anti inflammatories in advance, and ice before and intermittently, while still doing work. And massage. Something in here might help some recovery.

[Bach5G]

I recall Sam B saying he kept a mouthpiece in the fridge and applied it to his chops after a hard gig.

[BGuttman]

I recall Sam B saying he kept a mouthpiece in the fridge and applied it to his chops after a hard gig.

I also remember him saying he kept a glass of ice water on the bandstand with him and would dunk his mouthpiece in from time to time.

[AtomicClock]

In the short term, athlete's do rest, ice, compression, elevation (RICE).

In sports and medicine, isn't RICE outdated?

[baileyman]

You're welcome to update the recommendation.

[CaptEquinox]

Even assuming perfect form, there's really no muscle or tissue in the body that's somehow immune from inflammation or swelling as the result of a whole bunch of things, including what you eat. This includes your heart. When you sleep, your body goes into repair mode and may well react with the swelling you notice by the morning. It's easy to see how that might affect your chop response when you pick up the horn next. Here's some good advice Buddy Baker gives in his Tenor Trombone Method:

If your lips are very unresponsive when you start in the morning (perhaps after a hard performance the night before - maybe without sufficient warm-down), play less and rest more. Don't try to make the lips work. Rather, stay relaxed and let the lips come to life as they will. Learn to recognize the difference between fatigue and tightness: rest when you are tired; when your warm-up routine makes you tight, reevaluate what you are doing and how you are going about it."

Note the last part — I think that connects with form going forward, but as you point out, you have to do what you can right now for now.

[2bobone]

"At the end of a session—practice session, rehearsal, whatever—warm down."

THAT is the over-looked component in every trombone player's handbook ! I always thought that the habit of stopping "cold turkey" at the end of any playing event was not dissimilar to tossing one's trousers [pants - skirt - culottes - bloomers] onto the floor upon retiring for the night and then expecting them to be "wrinkle-free" upon awakening ! Why we carefully go through a warm-up routine but have no similar routine for disembarking from our hard ride is a lot like what our ancestors referred to as "putting the horse away wet"!
When I was well into the habit of "warming down" after a performance I had a surprise. One evening, after a heavy concert, I was doing my typical warm-down routine in the Musician's Lounge, just off the lower corridor in The Kennedy Center when I spied a figure in one of the many mirrors in the room. The figure was Antal Dorati, the NSO conductor at that time. I realized that he was carefully listening to my routine and it made me very conscious of every note that passed through my horn. After what seemed like an eternity, I saw him nod his head in approval as he came into the room. He asked why I was not at home with my family at such a late hour and I assured him that I would go home as soon as I "warmed down" ! That was probably the most stressful audition of my life ---- but ---- the routine was very obvious at the next morning's rehearsal when my "freshly pressed" chops responded without any undue effort on my part. It does make a difference and always has made a difference. We eventually pay the price at the end of the line if we don't respect the ordeal through which we put our embouchures. Case in point !

[izMadman]

Watch out for anxiety. You can easily get it from all this unrest.

I did, and after that, I needed to take some therapy, along with a CBD treatment.
You might want to try CBD, actually. As shown on this page about medical cannabis for anxiety, CBD can help with its symptoms and make it easier for you.

[2bobone]

"My chops suffer quite a bit when I have fries, chips or pop in the car on the way to rehearsals; the salt and acid really tightens them up and the playing suffers."

"Lastbone's" comment above reminds me of a time when I was having trouble playing on a trombone/BigBand session and the tuba player, Fred Hollis, asked a simple question. "Have you eaten fried chicken lately" ? As a matter of fact, I had ! He shook his head and imparted some wisdom as only a Southern Boy [with lots of fried chicken experience] could do. " NEVER eat fried chicken before a gig" ! I later put some chicken fat between my fingers and tried to slide my fingers together. They wouldn't "slide" as you might expect a lubricated surface to do. Rather, they "chattered" from position to position. That's exactly what happened to my lips ----- they "chattered" ! Lesson learned !

[Posaunus]

"At the end of a session—practice session, rehearsal, whatever—warm down."

...

We eventually pay the price at the end of the line if we don't respect the ordeal through which we put our embouchures.

This post is just another reason why I have so much respect for you, Bob!