Dry mouth

[Kctuba]

Ok peoples…. Ever since I entered the age of medications every day, I have experienced dry mouth in certain playing situations. Some of you out there I’m sure deal with this as a performer. What are good ways to fight this very annoying addition to growing older???

[Mary Ann]

I will only say that so far, at 73, I have found herbal / nutritional interventions to be far more effective than Rx, with zero side effects. Most people don't even go looking, but I've had to go looking for most of my adult life.

[bloke]

I suspect that some of these players who I see with water bottles are using them to combat this problem. I don’t know… I’m guessing, because that’s what we do on this forum.
I do know that a lot of people don’t keep their water bottles very clean and just tend to refill them. That’s probably not recommended, and it’s probably a good idea to really try to keep a refillable water bottle as clean as possible.

[Stryk]

Check your blood sugar.

[the elephant]

We give out water bottles to players now. A local Pepsi bottler underwrites our biggest outdoor Pops program every year and also supplies us with MANY pallets of water through each season. The winds and brass keep these on stage beside us and nip at them as needed if we can do it unobtrusively.

Back in 1983, I played my first ever college jury, and I was *very* nervous about it. My teacher told me to take a cup of water on stage with me. Well, I could not *find* a cup — the coffee pot in the Music Department office was mysteriously out of them. So, in desperation, I bought a can of Coke, poured it out in the bathroom sink, then filled it with water. I took this with me.

In short, I got a B from the guitar professor. His comments included him excoriating my lack of professional decorum and respect toward my ivory tower audience. My teacher read the sheet, crossed out the grade, and said, "Classical guitarists are all idiots."

Things have changed, and taking water with you to your performance or gig is perfectly okay. It is fairly expected, nowadays, what with the social pressure to constantly hydrate.
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And Now It's Time for Another Episode of "Uncle Wade's Homespun Idiocy"

I bite down on the outer edges of the sides of my tongue to cause my salivary glands to start producing if I get dry mouth, which is still fairly often despite my experience level. I still get nervous on occasion, despite having been making my living as a player since 1985. I would say that this helps me about 75% of the time, but not when I am truly nervous, as when performing a solo recital. I really have issues in that setting. In such cases, I stop ingesting all caffeine about a week before the performance. This sucks as I am a serious coffee hound, but it seems to help. I also start to sleep better a few days before the performance. I also eat a banana every day for the week prior. (Google is your friend.)

[kingrob76]

Ok peoples…. Ever since I entered the age of medications every day, I have experienced dry mouth in certain playing situations. Some of you out there I’m sure deal with this as a performer. What are good ways to fight this very annoying addition to growing older???

My wife was a on course of medications that led to dry mouth and found good results with Biotene. As an oboe player, she found it quite effective.