Lip Swelling?

[minemax03]

Hi, I'm a high schooler that's been playing for 5ish years and lately I've been in quite a few ensembles playing high parts with a day of rest in there every once in while; however, I've noticed that I'm getting tired more often and my lips just feel swollen. I'm not sure if this is how they've always been or if they're just swelling from pressure or what. For info, I'm in Michigan so it's pretty damn dry right now, but I've been trying to drink more water.

[hyperbolica]

Be careful of salt intake, and make sure to drink lots of water. Also, don't fight the urge to pick up the instrument again and play. Sometimes when you are right on the cusp of a big improvement in chops, you might feel swollen or stiff. If you can play past that, you might find improvements in sound, flexibility, ability to warm up more quickly, and possibly other things.

[Mikebmiller]

Try some chop saver. The guy that came up with it is a trumpet player. They have it at CVS and some music stores.

[Doubler]

Pressure is your enemy. It lulls you into using it for the upper register instead of the tedious process of continuing to develop your embouchure and play from a position of ease and strength. Then, when it's got you hooked, problems appear, sometimes as slowly as you are being weaned off proper technique, sometimes all of a sudden. Recovery is difficult, as the tendency to use the crutch is so seductive, and you have to unlearn the bad habit while developing the new one, and sound and range suffer in the process.

Many players struggle with this, so don't feel alone. Concentrate on keeping your body in good shape (meaning breathing, exercise, nutrition, and hydration), and use perhaps the most fundamental tool in the box... patience. This is a tough one, especially when you're young, but it pays off over time, and since you're young, although you might not recognize it, time is something you have plenty of.

[VJOFan]

There is not a ton of information in the OP so this isn't necessarily direct advice to the problem posted. It may be but I just don't know enough from the description of the situation.

This situation seems to be about playing a lot and how to cope with that. Most who have studied seriously go through a phase at least once in their journey when they play in too many ensembles while preparing for recitals and lessons.

These are my general suggestions to survive too many playing commitments.

Invest time in good warm ups. If you are playing a lot it is important to be "properly" swollen before the rehearsal starts. To play well and safely the lips do need to have the blood supply stimulated. This takes the time it takes. Anywhere from 5 minutes to, for some people, up to an hour.

During a rehearsal if you feel fatigued it is legal to bail on some parts. This is very easy if you have stand partners- spell each other off. Even if you are by yourself on a part you can probably take a few long note off now and then without consequence.

Do something after a rehearsal to make your lips feel good again before putting the horn away. Usually soft and low does this or just flapping the lips like a horse.

Develop consistency. Controlled and focused practice on non-rehearsal days will set you up for better playing and less fatigue during rehearsals.

If things are truly painful, stop and rest then come back slowly and carefully.

[Doug Elliott]

Mostly good advice here.
However:
Swelling is is often the end result of doing something incorrectly for your particular embouchure.
Mouthpiece pressure is NOT your enemy. INCONSISTENT pressure, or in the wrong place or the wrong direction at the wrong time, is your enemy, and often the real problem is not ENOUGH pressure combined with a lack of understanding how your chops need to work.

This is all stuff I teach on an individual basis and I'm not going to go into it here. But f you try making your mouthpiece pressure exactly the same all the time, without adding and taking it off for different things - like bouncing on and off when you have short rests - playing offbeats for example - that helps a lot. Bouncing pressure is like hitting yourself in the face repeatedly.

[minemax03]

Thank you everyone for your advice! A lot of this stuff I'm just realizing that I'm doing subconsciously, especially Doug about the varying mouthpiece pressure.
I'll be trying to fix a lot of this in the next month or so while getting ready for parades and honors orchestra (not band ) If I'm lucky, maybe the air won't be assaulting me by then too.

[Doubler]

Please allow me to clarify. There must be contact between the lips and the mouthpiece rim. Some pressure is necessary to maintain a seal, and the pressure against the lips is relative to the pressure inside the player's oral cavity. This is necessary. When pressure against the embouchure becomes a problem is when it is increased for the purpose of using it exclusively to achieve high notes, consequently reducing blood flow to the lips and limiting flexibility and control, sometimes to the point of stopping lip response altogether, or using it to crush one's embouchure into place after fatigue has set in. Muscle tissue damage is the result. So let's say that excessive pressure is your enemy.

[Doug Elliott]

So many people hear "pressure is your enemy" without understanding, that nearly every student I teach has problems that are at least partly related to not using enough, or consistent enough, mouthpiece pressure. You need more than just a seal, you need stability, and that doesn't come from barely touching your chops. The stories about people playing their horn hanging from a string have no relation to reality. You can't play at performance volume, while articulating and moving your slide, without sufficient pressure to stabilize the foundation.

[baileyman]

In a recently posted Watrous interview, he talks about having played so much he got tired, but his fatigue was mental, as the chops could keep going. This is still astonishing to me but I fully believe it's possible. He said, "I always played correctly." And the numbers support that. There's only some 1 to 2 psi air, not much air flow for most notes, and the vibration is a minuscule piece of flesh that can only be indirectly affected by muscles. It seems reasonable to think that this thing can be played without a lot of effort or pressure or fatigue.

[Doug Elliott]

Watrous typically played at a small fraction of the volume most of us need to use regularly. He was able to play loud - he demonstrated that at one class - but said he chose not to, for endurance reasons. So what he did pressure-wise does not necessarily apply to anybody else.