Satchmo's syndrome is a disorder due to the rupture of

orbicularis oris muscle In human anatomy, the orbicularis oris muscle is a complex of muscles in the lips that encircles the mouth. It is not a true sphincter, as was once thought, as it is actually composed of four independent quadrants that interlace and give only an a ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

players. This syndrome is named after the nickname of

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

, the trumpet player from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, because apparently it fits with the symptoms he experienced in 1935.

Pathology

In order to produce the right music, the trumpet player has to exert strength and produce vibrations of the

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

. This can sometimes lead to the rupture of the musculature of the lip. Due to the muscle rupture, there is possibly a lengthening of the circumference of the orbicularis oris, and it fails to exert normal strength. As a result, the trumpet player cannot produce high musical notes. This condition may be partly reversed by resting the lips for weeks to months. The muscle rupture can also be corrected surgically, in which case the trumpet player can perform as well as they did before the injury.

References

Syndromes affecting muscles Louis Armstrong Trumpeters {{Musculoskeletal-disease-stub}