Medical Aspects and Risks of Playing the Trumpet

[barliman2001]

About a year ago, I suffered a catastrophic retinal ablation during an orchestra rehearsal and had to have eye surgery, resulting in several operations and permanent damage to my right eye. Recently, I've found out that several of my trumpet friends have had similar experiences, and I've talked to my ophthalmic surgeon. He is one of the best ophthalmic surgeons world-wide, and a come-back trumpet player. He found that there might be a necessity to look at the combination of trumpet-induced enhanced eye pressure and eye damage, and that there has been no relevant research so far. He is quite interested in this problem now and would like to get in contact with trumpet players who have experienced similar problems. Anyone interested is asked to kindly provide some kind of address or contact so that they can be included in the research programme. This means ANY TRUMPET PLAYER with eye problems that were not there before taking up the instrument. I can assure you that this surgeon - Professor Thomas Neuhann MD, an ophthalmic surgeon in the seventh generation - and his team will explore all the information with utmost care to privacy and will in most cases be able to either eliminate or alleviate existing conditions.

[GeorgeB]

@barliman2001

I have Glaucoma but had it long before I resumed trumpet playing 6 years ago. Still I am very concerned that playing the horn could possibly cause some form of eye damage. The results of this study will be very interesting.
George

[Dr GO]

I found a few article (abstracts) that may provide some insight (pun intended) toward this issue. This first one appears more related to glaucoma risk:

[Dr GO]

This next one suggests the possibility retinal injury from increased pressure to retinal vessels:

[barliman2001]

@dr-go Thanks!

[Dr GO]

@barliman2001 said in Medical Aspects and Risks of Playing the Trumpet:

@dr-go Thanks!

So welcome. Pressure created in the body from wind instruments cannot be physiologically underestimated. I did my own experiments on pressure effects on the urinary tract while I was cannulated for renal obstruction due to renal trauma resulting for a 4 day intensive care unit stay in 2014. My ICU nurses were gracious enough to allow me to bring in and play my pocket trumpet (with a Yamaha Silent Mute attached as a compromise).

With the helpful data collection from one of my ICU nurses, we found that when I began playing from the C on staff to the F just above the staff, my urinary flow steadily declined, and was totally absent once I played above the F.

Long term consequences of this are minimal as we do not play for extended hours throughout the day, but some practical aspects of this study suggest perhaps lead players will need less bathroom breaks!

[Curlydoc]

@dr-go Can trumpet playing aid the passage of stones?

[Dale Proctor]

Finally, justification for my avoidance of playing too many 1st parts and not practicing every day!

[Dr GO]

@curlydoc said in Medical Aspects and Risks of Playing the Trumpet:

@dr-go Can trumpet playing aid the passage of stones?

That is how I got to my predicament. I could not pass a stone, so the pressure blew several calyxes in my left kidney, then blew a hole in the back wall after which urine leaked into my retroperitoneum then filtered to my inguinal gutters inflaming my left femoral vein causing a DVT that dislodged and produced 4 pulmonary embolisms that I barely survived, leading to a code blue and my stay in the ICU. This sequence of events all started the last set of a gig I was playing at Pittsburg's Little E's. So if trumpet playing does not pass the stone, it'll blow a hole through the wall of the kidney. Been there, done that!

[Mike Ansberry]

It's too bad that there isn't some substance that you could use to bring down the pressure in you eyes.

[J. Jericho]

@mike-ansberry said in Medical Aspects and Risks of Playing the Trumpet:

It's too bad that there isn't some substance that you could use to bring down the pressure in you eyes.

youtube.com

[barliman2001]

@mike-ansberry Actually, glaucoma is excessive pressure in the eyes, and it can be treated with special eye drops.

[Curlydoc]

@dr-go Thursday, I had a 9 by 30 mm stone removed by ureteroscopy and laser lithotripsy. Stents were left in the ureter. Post-op has been painful with frequent bladder spasms as I pass gravel. Trumpet playing aggravates the spasms. Any recommendations?

[Dr GO]

@curlydoc said in Medical Aspects and Risks of Playing the Trumpet:

@dr-go Thursday, I had a 9 by 30 mm stone removed by ureteroscopy and laser lithotripsy. Stents were left in the ureter. Post-op has been painful with frequent bladder spasms as I pass gravel. Trumpet playing aggravates the spasms. Any recommendations?

Try Pyridium 200 mg tid prn prior to playing, assuming you do not wear contact lenses. It will discolor lenses.

[fels]

I posted earlier (year or so ago) about the effects of Mohs (4 layers) surgery on the back of my neck that seemingly resulted in nerve related issues that impacted my left cheek and lower lip. Still seems to be a problem but may be
lymph related.. Relative to kidney stones, I had one some years ago but was related to hyperparathyroidism. Surgery removed one HP and PTH tests show normal -- not trumpet related seemingly. On the other hand (sic) I have a prolapsing hemorrhoid that responds directly to lead playing.