Posted by John Swensen on May 02, 2001 at 18:52:44:
In Reply to: lip ring (not piercing!) posted by **Lucky Cat** on May 02, 2001 at 09:58:55:
If the problem is getting worse, you may be developing an allergy to something on the rim or the rim may be getting rougher (I assume you wash your rim very frequently with soap and hot water). I had a Marcinkiewicz mouthpiece that had tiny pinholes in the plating, which seemed to get worse with time; that mouthpiece has, since then, been replated. It may be instructive to examine the surface of you rim in good light with a magnifying glass.
I would second the recommendations to try nail polish. You don't need to dip the mouthpiece, as painting it on will be smooth enough for the experiment. If it helps, consider replating with silver or gold, or using a plastic rim. Delrin is really slippery, and you might not like it. Polycarbonate (such as Lexan) is less slippery than silver (which is less slippery than gold). Doug Elliot will, occasionally, consent to making polycarbonate screw rims for his mouthpieces.
If you don't like nail polish, or it doesn't help, it can be removed with nail polish remover (or plain acetone). Unless you go to great lengths to clean the rim before painting, the nail polish will flake off in a few weeks, most likely.
If the problem is not a reaction to the rim, it is possible that you are starting to use more pressure without realizing it. You should be able to buzz on the mouthpiece, pretty well, with the mouthpiece just balancing on your thumb, without using extra fingers. If you can't you may want to work on low-pressure buzzing some more.