TRUMBONE

Myofunktional Exercise  Collect ion

Application:

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This exercise will be useful in the case of hypo-mobility or -tonicity of the lip muscles (Anatomy: Area I, Page 013).

Contents:

This motivating playful exercise which simultaneously may be set as an air stream exercise offers a feed-back effect through the acoustic sensation of a change in the vibrations for the tactile kinaesthesia of the lip surface.

Materials:

Not required. (To stress the playful character a cylinder with a diameter of a vacuum cleaner tube with smoothed rim -to avoid injuries- may be set at the mouth trough which the vibrations will create a sound.)

Procedure:

- Previous exercises: Here the start position will be prepared. Several different possibilities are provided. The most fundamental one is the  ,M’-POSITION.

-Starting position: (Initial position to be adopted.) Out of this the patient will be put in the stage to create the vibrating of the lips. A certain pretension in the position offers the ,P-P-P'-EXERCISE. The exercise BABBLE may be slotted in ahead to practice the motion sequence.

- Step-by-step-description:

-1 Procedure as described in chapter BABBLE.

-2 While the lips are vibrating the cheek musculature (‘Belt’, Risorius) gets more and more tensed gradually, the oscillations, thus, become faster (tactile kinaesthesia). The sound becomes higher (acoustic feed-back) from the initial babbling towards a hooting.

This tensioning may be explained to the patient after a respective pre-training as: While the lips are swinging the mouth is strung up as to make a DUCKBILL until the hooting sounds.

A further variant of these vibrations may not only be produced by the altered tension (Tone) but further through changes in the target area of the musculature. If now a tension is created in the   ,O’-EXERCISE, the pitch of the sound rises again while the tensed feeling around the mouth slit is shifted more to the centre.

The sound created, now rather sounds like being made by a trumpet.

-Timing: The differences in creating the muscle tone can be guided through the exercise timing

The most simple form of one training sequence is the continuation of the sound (oscillating frequency = muscle tonicity).

The work-out intensity, then, can be changed with changing the sound while practicing.

Switching the straining between the single muscle areas – as described above – results in a further intensification.

Such a switching may be performed between each sequence but also within it.

As the exercise is strenuous a series should be formed of less then five sequences.

As a relaxation exercise the BROAD GRIN may be prescribed.

Characteristics:

Motivating play exercise, surface sensitivity, tactile kinaesthesia, feedback (acoustic), Myobalance, gross motor skills, kinetics, tone raising, Motility.

Remarks:

It might be advisable for the therapist to produce such sound by himself before.

It might also be advisable to let the patient swallow his saliva before starting.

Discussion:

Through the practicing with the mentioned variation possibilities an interesting congruence results to the INCREASE-ARRANGEMENT: ,O’- ,CHERRY - ,TRUNK, as described in chapter INCREASE-ARRANGEMENT (“List of exercises, B. Mobility). In our case the changing from the DUCKBILL to the  ,O’-EXERCISE would cause an increase in motility.

Comparing these practicing modi the first would be a static exercise while the here discussed one in contrary kinetic. This offers a combination possibility in form of an ALTERNATIVE EXERCISE when in one sequence the carry-out would be the static DUCKBILL while in the following one the respective TRUMBONE.

Instructions:

The lips will have to learn moving fast.

Before some other exercises are to be mastered as the BABBLE, the DUCKBILL or the ,O’.

To start with we will have to practice the BABBLE. Then, while the lips are swinging with the BABBLE you go and try to make a DUCKBILL. For this you, of course, have ton get some more strain in your lips and blow some more air against them: Now there rings out the trombone sound because, now, the lips are clapping open and shut very fast. “Hoooot!” like an elephant. If we have already tried it, you may also set a tube on your lips to make a better hooting sound.

And- if we also have talked about this – the next step will be the ,O’ while the trombone is still blowing. This will help create a new sound. When you have mastered this you will be able to produce sounds with a quite different pitch.