lately for about a month now, my lips have been going numb after playing for a while. do you know the reason why, or how to stop it? thanks.
By any chance have you been playing an Oak whistle? There was a time when Oak mouthpieces were causing this problem.
no, i dont have one of those. it happens with every whislte i am playing, is that a bad condition? is it dangerous?
Are you wrapping your lips around your teeth, then biting down on the mouthpiece? Are you holding the whistle in your mouth with your lips instead of with your hands?
have you recently put jet dry, duponol, soap, or something in the windways for clogging?
no to both furladog and Wanderer on those questions. sometimes when i hit the high notes, my lips kind of pucker. would that be it? i have been trying out to figure why.
My lips sometimes go numb if I drink too much.
I can’t see how they could go numb playing the whistle. Aren’t your lips kind of, well, inert basically? It’s not like you have to worry about embouchure.
Even so, I can’t see how tensing the lips could cause numbness. Soreness, yes. But numbness. That is very strange. I hope you find the cause. You don’t suppose maybe you are allergic to some of your whistles?
My lips sometimes go numb if I drink too much.
If I drink too much, my whole body goes numb, soon followed by my brain 
Once, I had a similar sensation when I played pipes; numbness on the upper lip where it formed around the blow pipe; as opposed to a stiff upper lip. I think I rather imagined that both lips were numb as I was putting extra pressure on the blow pipe because I did not have a stiff upper lip.
It happened that I had a dental appointment and I found from the dentist that I had a sinus infection. No big deal, a few pills and numbess was banished. Best, Cyril.
I’m just the opposite–The brain goes first, then eventually the body! 
hmm, it could be the way your sitting/standing, try playing in different positions, also make sure that your not clenching your lips too much, whatch yourslef play in front of a mirror, or get someone to watch you, If this is a recnet thing, then its proabably becase you changed the way you’ve been playing, or your playing alot more
I’ve had a numbness with only one whistle … a Water Weasel. Tried several things to figure out what the problem was. Ended up being the red material in the fipple block, giving me the distinction of the only person to ever have a reaction to it according to Glenn. If you are playing whistles that are mainly one material type (aluminum, brass, delrin, etc ) you might consider a mild reaction as one possible reason for the numbness.
Judy
Is this a new whistle and/or does it seem to be the same whistle that causes this? Perhaps the head itself just vibrates in way that makes your lips numb.
I have a related question. Has anyone heard of an allergic reaction to bamboo? (I’d guess we can be allergic to just about anything.) I’ve been tooting on a bamboo flute and recently my lower lip where it contacts the flute feels irritated whenever I play. It’s a mild burning sensation. I’m going to try the tape idea to see if that helps.
I don’t play whistle much and I used to have a slight numbness problem when I did play. I figured out that I wasn’t relaxing my lips enough, instead they were tightening around the whistle to hold it in place. I concentrated on relaxing my mouth more, and poof, everything’s better.
Many types of wood can cause allergies. Usually, it involves breathing the dust. It can get tricky pinning it down. For example, western red cedar can cause severe allergic reactions in someone who gets no reaction from incense cedar or cedar of Lebanon. The offending chemical is plicatic acid that is only present in some species.
Think of wood as fiber reinforced plastic with many chemicals in the mix. Just because something is natural doesn’t mean it is harmless. Trees that are rot resistant will have natural insecticides and fungicides in their makeup.
When I teach classes in chemical safety, I tell the students that everything is toxic. You just have to know how it is able to enter the body and how much is needed to cause a reaction.
flutey, i think you are right. i seem to tighten my lips slightly, and after a while of playing they go numb.
Also a flute made of something benign may be coated
with something that isn’t. I had a nasty reaction to
whatever Pat O uses to coat his boxwood flutes,
but boxwood itself is no problem for me.
I would think that about the bamboo flute too.
That’s a good point, Jim. Following up on your idea, I’ve just written to Steve Cox, who made this flute, to see if he used a coating. He might also be able to recommend a barrier coating.