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So.... This might be an interesting/awkward topic to bring up... But I'm interested to see if anyone has any insight into this. Over the years that I've played violin, my lovely violin bruise or rash under my chin has come and gone many times. The more I play, the worse it gets. I've seen it under the chins of many many violinists and fiddle players over the years, so obviously it's a pretty universal thing for players who really practice/perform a lot. I know that some people don't get it because they hold the instrument differently or not as tight, but I'm just wondering.... Is there any kind of like... Medicine or anything that makes this better? I've tried putting a pad on my chin rest to make it softer before, but that doesn't really seem to work.
Anyway.... Thoughts? Ideas?
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I have a small rectangle piece of flannel cloth I have folded that I place under my chin and jaw on the chine rest and have never gotten the rash you write of.
Just a thought.
It's very soft and afford protection to the violin from your sweat and body oils as well.
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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I have the same problem from time to time.
I've done some research and some people suggest that it could be a reaction to the ebony. It must be a common problem because I've seen '' Hypoallergenic " chin rests on the market
Seen it all. Done it all. Can't remember most of 
..... What was I saying???? 
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I'm going to do a review on a product that we tested at NAMM this year called the GelRest with a Fantastic feel. It's both soft and gives a little grab so you don't feel like you need to hold the violin so hard.
Next would be the Strad Pad. Also great.
http://fiddlershop.com/sattler.....d-pad.html
The strad pad might breath a little better.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
jakefiddle said
... so obviously it's a pretty universal thing for players who really practice/perform a lot....
I don't play alot and still i have it. Maybe a stupid thing, but nothing helped me to reduce it except the patch.
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Hmmm, i have no idea what you are speaking about. I'll have to now look it up now. I do however, have a beard. That may actually pad from the effect. I can tell you, it does itch like no poison ivy I ever had, periodically. The solution I have is keep it a certain length trimmed (usually)
"I find your lack of Fiddle, disturbing" - Darth Vader
Pro advisor
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Some people have sensitive skin. Not me, I'm a tough old rooster in that department. When I play and I am sweaty, like after riding my bike to someones house, I have a microfiber cloth that I put over the chinrest, end pin Hillary Hahn style. If I dont have it with me, Ive used my shirt collar before. Then again, maybe its cause Im not jammin it firmly into my neck like I see some doing. I have a wide jaw. (child bearin hips) lol.
"Please play some wrong notes, so that we know that you are human" - said to Jascha Heifetz.
Perhaps it's not the chin rest but the shoulder rest. The problem seems to be if the violin doesn't feel secure we clamp down harder with our chin. If the shoulder rest worked better the violin would remain secure and we wouldn't clamp down with our chin. Try this shoulder rest out. I have read a great deal of reveiws on it and it appears to work very well.
http://fiddlershop.com/the-sli.....me=slipper
Regular advisor
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This topic reminds me of a funny story...
When I first met my violin teacher, she had this strange red mark on her neck and chin. Obviously, you can image what I thought it was from but I figured, what happens in someone's personal life is none of my business. A month rolled by and every time I met with her she had that same mark. One day, as I was walking into class, she began complaining about needing to replace her chin/shoulder rest as it kept causing this irritating red mark and how sick and tired she was of people thinking it was, well, something else.
There was that awkward pause for a moment as I tried to think of how to change the subject before the question came if I too had thought the same thing. Lesson learned here is that there is NO safe way to answer that question... 
Anyways, it might loose something in the telling of the story but it was pretty darn funny at the time.
"I know a girl who cries when she practices violin because each note sounds so pure it just cuts into her, and then the melody comes pouring out her eyes. Now, to me, everything else just sounds like a lie."
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Perhaps you have a nickel intolerance. Often the metal bars of the chin rest have a high nickel content which causes the irritation - or - contributes to it. I have seen players sticking some soft plaster tape around it.
Good luck!
Dax said
Perhaps you have a nickel intolerance. Often the metal bars of the chin rest have a high nickel content which causes the irritation - or - contributes to it. I have seen players sticking some soft plaster tape around it.Good luck!
Yep. I have nickel (and couple other metals)- allergy, but this one doesn't have anything related to the violin-hickey. Not in my case, at least =) allergy - on the neck, hicky - under the jaw. Well, i'm all set! 
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So in your case Naska, you are probably getting everyone jealous.
You guys have no idea how often young people that didn't know me thought that I had a hickey while growing up.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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