i`ve been playing the flute for about a month and a half...and no matter what, i always seem to have that annoying pimple on my chin. i try as hard as possible not to let the mouthpiece rub against it, but with marching and the intense heat we`ve been getting, that doesn`t seem to help. any suggestions??

roll more into the mouth peice a bit. it will effect your tuning but just retune it rolled in.....easy fix...

pushing too hard, relax, don`t ever roll your flute, you will be forever out of tune and have a stuffy tone

Go to the natural/hollistic/enthic/hair sections of your local drug store and find "Tea Tree Oil" this stuff does wonders to remove pimples, warts, and zits. Also helpful to reduce inflammation on sore skin areas.

Try having your lip plate gold plated, you could be allergic to silver.

Be a bit careful with the tea-tree oil. Quite a few people`s skin is inflamed by it.

It may be folliculitis, which can be very persistent, especially when regularly irritated by the contact with the flute.

However there are very good prescription drugs which deal with it fast, at lest in my experience.

See your DOCTOR if you have a persistent medical problem. Do not just experiment with very limited expertise.

Tea tree oil, if you`re not allergic to it, is quite safe. I use it on my eyes as I get folicle infections every few months and it prevent Styes from forming. Doctors would only advise me to let them grow until they naturally burst which was HORRIBLY HORRIBLY painful until I discovered Tea Tree Oil. It is WONDERFUL for persistant skin problems.

A couple of solutions to prevent FUTURE pimples:

1) Put cloth tape on the place your lip rests.
2) Use clear lip polish on the lip plate half that your lip rests.
3) Plate your lip plate with another metal... make sure you`re not also allergic to your new metal.

When I begain playing flute I also had irritation on the area where the flute touched, but in time that went away for me. I would recommend temporary measures until you get used to the flute, but if you try nail polish and the problem goes away... you may be allergic to silver plating.

I, personally, have had a very bad experience with tea tree oil. There are many references to the irritating qualities of teatree oil, such as the following. A doctor can prescribe a lot better than this for sensitive skin areas.

http://bathheaven.com/essential-oils/tea-tree.htm

"Avoid contact with eyes..... For application to sensitive areas such as near the eyes, mouth, or genitals, use a diluted form of tea tree oil; always dilute for use on a baby`s skin..."


http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/health/Herb/Tea_Tree.htm

"...The oil may burn if it gets into the eyes, nose, mouth, or other tender areas. Some people have allergic reactions, including rashes and itching, when applying tea tree oil.10 For this reason, only a small amount should be applied when first using it..."


http://www.drugstore.com/qxp83681_333181_sespider/desert_essence/organic_tea_tree_oil.htm

"... Do not use full strength on face..."


http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=10005003

"Avoid contact with eyes. May cause irritation to sensitive skin types.......SYMPTOMS OF EXPOSURE:
Eye Contact: May irritate eyes.
Skin Contact: May irritate existing skin condition on repeated or prolonged exposure.......
Medical Conditions Generally Aggravated by Exposure: Existing skin condition can be aggravated.


And BTW http://www.messybeast.com/teatree.htm

"....However, animals and humans have been poisoned (sometimes fatally) from topical use or accidental ingestion of tea tree oil. Use of tea tree oil to control fleas has resulted in the death of kittens. There are case studies at the end of this article where cats have died following its use ...."

Those websites laud the effectiveness of Tea Tree oil. The toxicity to cats applies to when you use Tea Tree as a shampoo to control fleas.

Tea Tree oil isn`t some new fangled cure. It can be found in most drug stores as it is popularly used for acne and cleaning your hair. It`s also used in some mouthwashes.

I use it on the bottom eyelid of my eyes when my eyes show signs of inflammation. Even if I waited too long and a Stye starts to develop the Stye will simply go away with a little oil. THERE IS NO PRESCRIPTION THAT WILL DO THAT.
(A Stye is like a deep infected zit which grows and grows till it forces a hole in your eyelid to drain).

Sorry that you cannot use Tea Tree oil, but for those that can... it is simply the absolutely greatest thing in the world. Hope you never get a Stye or Cyst. There is little that doctors prescribe other than lancing or surgery.

Doctor Horror Stories abound for victims of Cysts:
http://www.pilonidal.org

It has a fair bit to do with strength. If you used it FULL strength in your eye, you would more than likely destroy the cornea. It would be like using full-strength eucalyptus oil or lemon oil.

I suspect that what you are using is VERY dilute, and possibly formulated with other ingredients to lessen the irritation.

This site is pretty comprehensive.

http://www.teatreeoiluses.com/tea-tree-oil-uses-human.htm

I use full strenghth on my eyelid for around a week every few months. Of course it is never used IN the eye.

That site you referenced sells Tea Tree oil and goes on about the effectiveness of Tea Tree oil on various maladies. The warnings are the same you would find on a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

You`ll hard pressed to find very much bad stuff on Tea Tree oil. I certainly searched it out extensively before I tried the stuff.

But keep in mind sites post cautions in case something DOES go wrong. For example Camphor oil can have some nasty side effects and people like to put it in their nose even though everywhere you read it specifically says not too. Camphor oil is Vapo-rub.

If it is used on an eyelid stye then there is every chance of it getting into the eye.

A lot of interesting information here. http://www.teatreeplace.com/
Click on "Higher Standard" and also "Products"

Note that most products are heavily diluted.