Viola or violin hickey -- prevention and treatment?

I play the viola and have a large spot on my neck from it -- I don't mind having a slight one, but it's huge and could stop traffic it's so red after playing. Someone suggested cleaning my chin rest after playing to avoid infection, but I wasn't sure how to clean it. I wash my face daily but should I carry around baby wipes to clean my neck after practicing??


I have many violinist and violist friends with rough spots on their necks (more like a callous), but none so large and red and strange as mine.


Do you have any prevention/ treatment techniques I could use? Thanks!

Viola or violin hickey -- prevention and treatment?
Don't use baby wipes! That will take the dirt away (if any) but that's about it. I play the Violin and I hate those hard chinrests, I discovered a velvet chinrest that is iINFLATABLE! It's great! It absorbs moisture and is a lot more comfortable than those hard chinrests. After a week or so of use, I throw it in the wash and let it air-dry. It's cleaner. Try getting one! It's pretty cheap, maybe 25-30 bucks.
Reply:No way to prevent this happen. You can use a little cloth or towel to soft the effect. But you cannot prevent it.


look at the professional violinists and viola players, all of them have the mark.





I know for "normal people" that black spot looks really weird, but that is the price musicians pay, for play those instruments.
Reply:I like the inflatable chin rest idea, but I have seen performers using a folded piece of cloth on the affected area.
Reply:I'm a violinist as well, but had never gotten one of those. It is all in the skin type. Just try to keep that skin well hydrated and a cold patch will ease redness and any inflammation, but if you play professionally, I don;t know how you are going to carry a cold patch all around with you. Redness will go away after a recess on playing. An antibiotic ointment will help too. I don't like the idea of an inflatable chin-rest. It will make the hold of your viola much more unstable, I think.
Reply:You could buy a strad pad, which is a piece of cloth that can be put on your chinrest. It can be purchased at shar.com Also, you can put a piece of cloth on the chinrest every time you play--it limits the friction. If you do that, it will probaby be less obvious so you don't really have to clean it. There's also something called a gel chinrest at shar.com Never tried it but I heard it works.





Hope this helps!