When I play Clarinet I'm getting a pain in my throat which comes and goes as I'm playing is sometimes really bad - is this anything to worry about?

Nicia

Can I ask a few questions?

1) Is the pain continuous?

2) Does it particularly come on when tonguing?

3) Are you also feeling discomfort around the top of your chest?

1. Not continous goes on and off, usually started after around 15-20 minutes of playing, then on and off while playing and after.

2. More so in long passages / notes than when tonguing.

3. No discomfort around top of chest is all in the middle of the throat in the "voicebox" I think!

Thankyou

This is something that's much easier to diagnose watching you play Nicia, but gut feeling says that you may be occasionally 'stopping' the airflow with your throat. As you know Nicia, being a fine musician yourself, that's something to avoid.

The other main possibility is you're tensing up around the throat/upper chest area when playing, which will potentially bring on the symptoms you describe.

I would suggest that you get it checked by a doctor, just to rule out any physical problems with your throat or larynx.

Still having problems

Really very unhappy now with this. Not sure whether it is worth a trip to the doctors or not could be worth ruling out any physical problems first?

Or try asking the dentist at your next check-up apparently that's what they're doing when they ask you to say Ahhh, it's to check for problems with the throat and larynx - I always thought it was just to get your mouth open wide enough.

Hope you are sorted soon

D x