Weird topic, I know. Has anyone else noticed this same phenomenon: In the winter, when I have sinus trouble anyway, as soon as I start playing my flute, my sinuses begin stopping up. I currently have a cold. Last night when I played my flute, my sinuses completely sealed shut, it seemed. A few minutes after I stopped playing, they started opening up again. I guess the facial muscles shift while playing in such a way to cause this. Strange. Any similar occurrences?
I think someone once posted about the relationship to sinus problems and facial muscles - the essence being they are somehow related.
I've had a sinus infection for about the past month, but didn't break down and go to the doctor's office until this morning. It has kind of waxed and waned over the month, but the days my ears are all clogged up and my sinus stuffed, I can't play worth a darn. It was three days in a row of poor playing that finally led me to seeing the doctor.
Now, armed with two RXs, I hope to get back on track.
Let me put in a plug (so to speak) for a Neti pot as a possible remedy when your sinuses are giving you trouble. I know I feel awful when I'm congested. A Neti pot would probably be pretty easily available and can help irrigate and clear out sinuses. It takes a little while to learn to use it--you basically pour water in one nostril and it drips out the other--but it keeps me from catching those terrible colds, and clears me out when I do get congested.
So far I haven't had sinus trouble since my new flute. One year! (Takes out flute and knocks on the wood.)
I've never had this issue. It makes me wonder whether you could be allergic to your flute, or some of the oil or cork grease you use. When our sinuses are already irritated, allergans can bother us that might not normally cause problems.
Could you be closing your nasal passages off when you play the flute? It's helpful to think of yawning to keep them open, plus it improves resonance, IMO.
i'll second the neti pot. it really works wonders. the first time you ever use one it might take a couple days for it to start clearing up, but its the best thing to clean you out.
i've never gotten more stuffed up playing the flute, but i'm always generally clogged up. until i used a neti pot, i had never breathed out of two nostrils in my entire life.
a yoga teacher was really high on the neti pot so i bought one. it worked ok when my nasal pasages were not clogged but the times when i was stuffy it seemd to irritate my sinuses more. any tips on how to use when stuffy?
i have essential oils a mixture called breath easy or something like that. i boil water and add a few drops then stick my face over the steam and inhale as deep and often as i can. strong stuff - whew! if that does not open you up, then it's time to call the roter rooter man.
I am going to take a guess, but it is only a guess FWIW. When you play the flute you are using those muscles in your face a lot more that you normally would leading to increased blood flow to those areas. It is possible there is a slight but important 'swelling' that would result from this blood flow.
I should have asked you first, which sinuses?
Another possibility that occurs to me is posture, i.e. if you do not hold your posture correctly you might have tension in the upper body (neck, shoulders, etc.). This may play out by affecting facial muscles/soft tissue.
I'm spitballing here.
Do you develope the same problem if you play a whistle?
It's the sinuses surrounding my nose. And it only seems to occur at times in the winter. So, it's not an allergy to the flute or oil. (No problems there.) I think it's just the way my facial muscles work when I play. I've played Boehm flute for 30+ years, and the same thing happens in the winter.
I've never heard of a Neti pot. Interesting, but sounds scary. I'll look into it.
rama wrote:a yoga teacher was really high on the neti pot so i bought one. it worked ok when my nasal pasages were not clogged but the times when i was stuffy it seemd to irritate my sinuses more. any tips on how to use when stuffy?
My experience mimics yours. I seem to be chronicallly stuffed up, particularly at night. Many folks here seem to have had good experiences with using the Neti Pot, so I figured I would give it a try. For me, it has not worked that well. I'm thinking of visiting an ENT doc.
rama wrote:i have essential oils a mixture called breath easy or something like that. i boil water and add a few drops then stick my face over the steam and inhale as deep and often as i can. strong stuff - whew! if that does not open you up, then it's time to call the roter rooter man.
I like the SinuCleanse, which is the same idea as the Neti Pot. It comes with pre-packaged salt mix. I use it half-strength, since it's a hypertonic solution. I'd suggest that using any solution other than normal saline could be irritating to some people.
i've always had sinus problems and just game back from the doctor with new medications and antibiotics because the other antibiotics weren't working. has anyone considered the fact that maybe sinus problems are what caused some of us to play flute? if we didn't have sinus problems we'd probably be involved in other activities. instead we're sitting around with steam and killing time by learning how to play the flute.
that neti pot thing sounds disgusting.
i was the pitcher on a softball team and got line drived right in the face. that cleared my sinuses for the first time that summer. the batter came to the mound to apologize and i stuck my hand out and thanked him. as usual, we lost.
Rose tint my world. Keep me safe from my trouble and pain. 白飞梦
Has anyone else noticed this same phenomenon: In the winter, when I have sinus trouble anyway, as soon as I start playing my flute, my sinuses begin stopping up. I currently have a cold. Last night when I played my flute, my sinuses completely sealed shut, it seemed. A few minutes after I stopped playing, they started opening up again. I guess the facial muscles shift while playing in such a way to cause this. Strange. Any similar occurrences?
, but you get used to it.