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Violin Hickey

From Angela H
Posted May 14, 2007 at 10:20 PM

I have a horrible diagnosis for you. Want your violin hickey to go away? Give up the violin. Everyone has 'em...everyone. That telltale mark helps identify you as "in the club". :) At least, if it's on the left side of your neck, and not in multiple places :)

As to what you have already, I'm not a doctor, and this is just advice from one layman to another. I would treat it like any other skin irritation, and with the chinrest cover, it should eventually go away.

a) your set-up could be wrong for you (when mine was, I had really bad irritation and actually a HUGE blister which was sometimes incredibly painful...all which changed once I changed to a different shoulder rest and learned better how to hold the violin).

b) an allergic reaction to the wood...which can be solved by changing a chin rest, or using a cover.

c) just a little red mark/callous...kind of like your finger tips are calloused. that's what I have now. it probably won't go away. i'm sure you could try some oils, like tea tree oils or something...or aloe in a lotion or something like that if it really concerns you. otherwise, I'd suggest just laughing about it. my grandma even asked me if it was a hickey...and then you just explain "no it's from playing the violin" and let them think what they want :) hah, it was kind of funny how I had to explain that to my current boyfriend, but he's also a music major and understands.

as long as it's not causing you pain or discomfort, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

My own experience as a teacher and player?!...

I don't really get much of a mark and I have the violin in hand all day long on many days, practicing, teaching and demonstrating in lessons, rehearsing, performing, etc..

I used to get one and a nasty one too! One of the main causes I have found is a setup problems, caused first by an ill-fitting chinrest model. So, I concur with whomever said setup up problems that need to be addressed.

That said, it may occur for other reasons. With some people, not cleaning the chinrest enough leads to an accumulation of dirt, bacteria and oils can irritate the skin. I would recommend cleaning it with 70% ethyl alcohol (it is what doctors use).

For treating the skin, using witch hazel a few times a day can help dry out the infection if done for about 10 days.

Also, some skins types are more prone to it, and oddly enough, diet can affect it as it can lead to the skin getting more easily inflamed.

And by the way, the chinrest Mr. Klayman refers to is the Wittner. Not a bad design and some who have used it for skin problems have commented on it being quite beneficial.

Hope this helps...

Cheers!

It could be a benefit, I read an article where Christie's was allowing people to play a Stradivari that was to be auctioned. When asked what criteria was use to allow someone to handle and play the violin, they said they look for the tell-tale violin hickey as a visible sign of experience!

For cleaning, I use rubbing alcohol pads (the ones that come in the little foil packets like Wet-Naps), but you have to be careful! The best way to clean the chinrest is by taking it off the instrument first.

Cheers!

JUST KIDDING, by the way. And I hope all of your hickeys become painless and un-hindering.

For an irritated (or possibly mildly infected) violin hickey, nothing works better than Zepheran Chloride. This used to be available at any drug store, either in a bottle or on saturated, foil-enveloped pads. Now it is much more rare, and you may have to find it at an internet drug store, as I did the last time I bought some (25 years after the first (and previous) time.

There is no better cloth to prevent irritation by a chinrest than Chamois - the animal-skin based cloths sold a auto parts stores. My good chinrests are so perfect for me that i don't need any cloth, but with the other chinrests I always use the chamois - usually velcroed to the chinrest so I'm sure one is always with those violins.

1. moisture (from perspiration).
2. contact pressure point.
3. shearing force (as violin pivots under the chin during play).

anything that minimizes the above 3 may help.

even though keeping the chin rest clean makes sense, infection, if any, comes AFTER the hickey is formed or forming due to the presence of fissures that allow pathogens to invade. you can clean the chin rest to your heart's content as long as you understand that our skin is normally colonized by bacteria flora anyway.

skin integrity good, no problem. skin integrity compromised, trouble. what compromises the skin integrity in the first place is the formation of the hickey due to the above mentioned combination of moisture, pressure and shearing force. unfortunately, as andrew stated, it is very difficult to avoid those factors if you play seriously. but, as others have shared, it can be done if you find a workable routine.

if you are allergic to the metal on the chinrest, the presentation may be quite different. run of the mill hickey often starts with redness, without much itch. if anything, may be some soreness/pain. on the other hand, you scratch contact dermatitis from allergic reactions from day one.

with repeated offenses, ie, injury, healing, injury, healing, you may end up with significant scarring/kelloid formation. if this is considered to be the admission ticket to the secret violin society, so be it:)

it is a bird, no, a plane...it is super hickey.

To rid, look to changing your posture, grip, placement, shoulder rest, chin rest. Meanwhile, some Noxema cream nightly may help you.

For me, a centre-mounted chinrest and no shoulder rest (with foam pad under my shirt), got rid of the hickey (and gives improved playing). I believe Isaac Stern recommended this approach.

good luck.

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