Brian...thank you, thank you, thank you.

I go back to practice tonight and I'll see what happens. I've re-
seasoned my bag and I'm the process of re-hemping the joints. I will
ask my PM to soften the drones as well. 2 hours of blowing with a few
short breaks has it's draw backs.

Thanks for your input and kind encouragement. I will keep you posted.

Blessings,
Kris

--- In christianpipersanddrummers@yahoogroups.com, "Dr Brian J
Fitzsimons" <bfitzsimons@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Kris,
>
> I suspect the headaches are from raised pressure in the vasculature
around
> the brain during blowing hard. It suggests that you are perhaps
trying to
> blow to hard a reed, and succeeding by over blowing. This can
raise the
> central core pressure in the vascular system, and potentially
transmit up to
> the brain vessels.
>
> Kids with certain cardiac defects used to do something similar - the
> Valsalva Manoeuvre where you pinch the nose and blow hard (as if
trying to
> pop the ears) whilst crouching down; then they'd stand up quickly,
and
> promptly faint. The result - get sent home from school because of
passing
> out, on top of the cardiac problems. It really panicked teachers,
but was
> well known to doctors.
>
> The reason it happened was raising core pressure by blowing hard,
followed
> by suddenly dropping the pressure by rising quickly and dumping the
blood
> down into the legs (we've all felt giddy rising quickly at some
time in our
> lives). In most of us, our physiological mechanisms compensate
quickly;
> with certain heart defects, that would not happen; blood pressure
would
> plummet and they would keel over!
>
> I suggest softening the reed that you're blowing, and making sure
that your
> pipes are sealed properly so that you do not lose pressure anywhere.
> Perhaps also soften the drone pressure a bit. Really, you should
not need
> any effort to bring in the drones from 'a standing start', and
little
> additional effort to get the chanter to chime in. The danger of
going to a
> lighter set up, is of course overblowing especially on the high 'A'.
>
> Hopefully that will make the piping easier and cure the headache.
>
> The other issue could be high volume noise of the band in a
confined space.
> If you are not overblowing, then try quality ear plugs.....
>
> Let me know which you think it is, and how you get on.
>
> Blessings to all,
>
> Brian
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: christianpipersanddrummers@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:christianpipersanddrummers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
shepiper47
> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 9:16 AM
> To: christianpipersanddrummers@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Christian Pipers and Drummers] A question for Dr. Brian
>
> Brian,
>
> I'm glad to see you post again. I was wondering how things were
going
> with you and your family. Sounds like you're hardly home let alone
> play your pipes as well. Your schedule sounds tough.
>
> My question is why do some of us get headaches after extended times
> of piping? Tonight I developed a headache just at the end of band
> practice and on my way home I noticed I had a hard time remembering
> what I had done throughout the day. It's not the first time for a
> headache after piping but this time I felt like I was in a dream.
> It's now 3 hrs. later and the headache has subsided but I'm having
> trouble remembering all the details of the day and my drive home.
> It's a long drive, 1 hour each way to & from practice, and I'm
pretty
> concerned about the memory lapse. I did have a big cup of
caffeinated
> coffee (I normally drink decaf) on my way to practice so I'd stay
> awake throughout the evening but that's the only thing I did
> different. Could the caffeine be causing this? BTW, it's 1:04 am
> right now and I can't sleep...YIKES! Maybe I've answered my own
> question!
>
> I will remember Lorna in my prayers tonight. I know you all must be
> trouble by what's going on with her.
>
> Thanks for your input from time to time here. I can see you're
busier
> than you'd like to be.
>
> Blessings you and your family,
>
> Kris
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>