I have developed a redness at my lower lip at the border where the embouchure is.
And a numb-like chin. Seem to have tiny blisters/ pimples too.
Does someone recognize this? Just asking and don’t really want to think any further…
Not meaninging to make any kind of medical determination at all on this side, but it does sound like it might be a allergic reaction to me. You might want to post what kind of flute you are playing. Many folks seem to get allergic reactions to flutes made of cocus, though I am fortunate not to have that problem with two antique cocus flutes that I play regularly. I have heard that potential solutions include surface coatings (including silver embochure caps) or switching to a flute made out of a different material. You might consider a mopane or boxwood flute instead, which reportedly are less prone to this kind of reaction. And, of course, there is always Delrin…
yeah. its blackwood.
grr. this is NOT the answer I wanted to hear…hope more people chime in.
Hey Berti,
it might just be a temporary thing, I have trouble like that with my blackwood flute from time to time as well. Stop playing for two or three days, maybe try some Bepanthene/Panthenol and see what happens. If the redness appears again after playing your flute, you probably should meet a dermatologist…keeping fingers crossed for you!
All the best!
You could put a couple of strips of electrical tape on it to shield your skin, just to see if it helps.
On a metal flute you can just paint the sucker with super glue to create a lip plate, dunno if that would be such a good idea on wood…
Retrofitting a lip plate doesn’t sound very difficult.
going to tape the embouchure area for a few days (no gabriel, NOT playing is not an option…) to see if that helps.
Exact same thing that happened to me when I played my bamboo flutes. That’s the reason I no longer OWN any bamboo flutes! Neer heard of it happening with blackwood, but then again, I hadn’t heard of it with bamboo, either. I think I’d try the tape solution above and if it still happens, look at something else. Be careful putting any kind of tape on a blackwood flute, though. I think I’d use painters’ tape first.
Nanohedron has a black wood allergy.
One other question: Are you oiling your flute? Could be you are having a reaction to the oil you are using.
Also, is this a new reaction to a flute you have been playing for a while, or a new (to you) flute?
I have a Chinese concert flute that plays nicely. The only problem that I have is that the gold plating on the lip plate has come off. Rather than a swollen lip, I get a green lip when I play it, which my wife thinks is cute. I just put a piece of masking tape on the lower part of the embouchure until the green metal oxidation starts seeping through the tape. That’s my signal to hide that unsightly green and put on a new piece of tape.
Berti, could be an allergic reaction, as discussed above. It might be a temporary bacterial infection, so clean around the embouchure. Similar to the kind of acne cats get from food and water bowls that harbor bacteria in scratches in the material. Note to cat owners: use porcelain or stainless steel, not plastic.
Berti has such great success with doctors. This should go well.
latticino: yes I oil my flute . will change oil thanks for the thoughts. no new or different flute.
I will try everything suggested.
Mutepointe: ROFL!! thanks, I needed that but let’s try to stay positive…
today will start taping. let’s see how it is in two days, like.
I have however not oiled the outside for months so that possibility is not very likely.
fingers crossed for an happy ending.
a friend suggested me to contact Loren and ask for superglueing advice around the embouchure.
if all else fails, I will do that but we will see.
thanks all for the input.
You could try waxing the wood, this will seal the wood and prevent contact with allergic blackwood oils.
as coincidence would have it, last three days I did not get to play at all.
so have not been in touch with my flute, and had no symptoms (!)
then today I started playing again and would you know it, within half an hour I started to feel it again in my chin and lip! its reddish and burning again, feeling spots on skin and inside of mouth too, for a bit.
after an hour, it got worse…I quit, feeling my mouth and throat for a bit too.
to be SURE I did check if I was not pressing the flute etc but wasn’t at all.
so, sounds pretty likely I have developed an allergy for blackwood 
will start looking for the right kind of superglue unless someone else has some easier to fix advice…
super glue is pretty easy, you will need to touch it up every once in a while
You could look for someone to make a permanent one for the head.
Silver seems to be the usual choice.
Many Boehm players have developed reactions to silver and have changed to gold…(well yes, I are one. I’ve a blackwood flute with a silver lip plate and super glue…what I need to redo)
It’s always sumpin… 
I used a clear mylar film that I bought from a local art supplies store - a product similar to this: http://www.michaels.com/Dura-Lar™/fa0614,default,pd.html?cgid=products-artsupplies-tools&start=2
I used a small rectangle of the material with a cut-out for the embouchure.
The advantage is that it clings but doesn’t actually stick permanently to the flute. I thought I’d have to replace it every so often, but it has stayed on for several years.
Cheers!
that sounds like a nice solution (but not available over here)
isn’t that very slippery?
Blackwood could mean anything by the way. Anything from Ebony to Striped Ebony to Rosewoods to actual Dalbergia Melanoxylon, or sometimes called Bubinga. Most allergies come from exotic hardwoods, mostly tropical, but rarely “Blackwood.”
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Allergic_Reactions_to_Wood.html