[Trombone-l] Bell's Palsy

Thu Mar 9 22:26:45 CST 2006

I had a trumpet player friend that had it, and it came on almost over  
the course of a 3 hour gig.  I was on the later of two gigs he had  
that day.  he said his chops felt funny, but though he was just tired  
from the earlier gig.  By the end of the night, he could hardly  
play.  By the time he got to the doctor the next day, he couldn't  
move that side of his face.  He later said it wasn't more than 12  
hours for him, from thee first hint of it, until he felt paralyzed on  
that side.  At first he was afraid he had had a stroke.

he was back playing professionally in 4 or 5 weeks, but some of that  
was due to the fact that he was a professional musician with kids and  
couldn't afford to not work any longer than he had to.  If cash flow  
hadn't been an issue, I think he would have taken 6 - 8 weeks to  
really feel fully back together.

jeff
On Mar 9, 2006, at 4:25 PM, Mark Mohwinkel wrote:

> The symptoms vary somewhat, but I can provide info
> from my case.  It's some many years ago, but I recall
> it coming on rather quickly.  Basically, I lost muscle
> control and sensation of the left side of my face.  A
> paralyzation if you will.  I would smile with only the
> right side of the mouth, spoke a little thickly (only
> one side of tongue was controlled), used a straw to
> drink so as not to spill, etc.
>
> It is not a lot of fun and was very obvious to anyone
> to whom I would meet/speak with face to face.
> Trombone-wise, I stopped playing for a month and when
> I started again, I would try to compensate with the
> muscles on the right side of the face (by then I had
> some control on the left, but the right side was much
> stronger).  Tonguing was a joke but I could start
> getting the lips in shape again.  Causes are varied to
> unknown.  Sometimes "it just happens".  The good news:
> in my case, it's completely gone with no residual
> effect.  The father of a friend of mine had it many
> years ago and retained a permanent "semi-paralysis" of
> half of his face.  It got better but didn't go away.
>
> Obviously, it's very obvious!  (sorry)
>
> Hope this helps,
> Mark Mohwinkel
> Bend in the River Big Band
> Hudson, WI
>
>
> --- Charles De Paolo <chuck at hickeys.com> wrote:
>
>> What are the symptoms?  How does one know one has
>> contracted this disease?  Is it obvious, or subtle
>> to the point that it might be reasoned away as
>> something else (like not practicing or just having a
>> lousy setup to begin with)?
>>
>> --Chuck
>>
>>
>>   ----- Original Message -----
>>   From: Mark Mohwinkel
>>   To: Roger Carmichael ; Elizabeth Lewis ;
>> trombone-l at server5.samford.edu
>>   Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 2:20 PM
>>   Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Bell's Palsy
>>
>>
>>   I agree with Roger.  My concern with having him
>> try to
>>   "play through it" would be any bad habits he may
>>   acquire by trying to compensate.  When I had it, I
>> did
>>   play a little but I took, I think, the first month
>>   off.  Luckily the band wasn't playing right then
>> and I
>>   could afford to do it.  Also, I wasn't just
>> learning.
>>   Even then, I later found that I had been
>> compensating
>>   for the lack of control on the one side and was
>> still
>>   doing that after it passed.  I'm only an amateur,
>> but
>>   that's my experience and I think playing could
>> cause a
>>   bunch of re-learning later on.
>>
>>   Mark Mohwinkel
>>   Bend in the River Big Band
>>   Hudson, WI
>>
>>   --- Roger Carmichael <rc750 at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Based on my experience with BP, the student will
>> not
>>> be able to play for at least a month, maybe
>> more.
>>> Even then, it will be difficult to have a good
>>> embochure.  It gradually comes back and in my
>> case,
>>> I was playing steady after 6-7 weeks.
>>>
>>>
>>> Original Message-----
>>>> From: Elizabeth Lewis <ealewis at lycos.com>
>>>> Sent: Mar 9, 2006 12:33 AM
>>>> To: trombone-l at server5.samford.edu
>>>> Subject: [Trombone-l] Bell's Palsy
>>>>
>>>> Trombonelisters,
>>>>
>>>> Could anyone with experience with Bell's Palsy
>>> share their insights? One of my students (around
>> 13
>>> yrs old) came down with Bell's Palsy recently.
>> His
>>> doctor said he would recover in 2-8 wks.  Is it
>>> better to wait until everything thing feels
>>> completely normal before trying to play?  He's a
>>> very promising student so I don't want him to
>> get
>>> overly frustrated with this.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Beth Lewis
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> _______________________________________________
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