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Old 03-09-2011, 09:12 AM
Mr Fixit eh's Avatar
Mr Fixit eh Mr Fixit eh is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
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Callous shedding is a normal part of a guitar player's life. It's also really no big deal. It peels off... you keep playing... callouses grow back.

I'm not sure that I totally agree with this advice:
Quote:
In the future, you should stop playing after you notice your callouses first start cracking, peeling, or splitting. Rub some lotion on them and call it a day (or come back in a few hours.) At first, it may only be a few minutes before you have to take a break, however, if you keep doing this, your callous will become very tough and resilient over time. I've been using this method for about 2 years now and have gotten to the point where I can play 6+ hours without my callouses cracking, peeling, or splitting.
My experience has been that I had alot of callous shedding in the early years of my playing - every month or two there'd be a serious shedding. In the early years, my fingertips would be softer and tender after the shedding took place. With 3 1/2 years of playing (I play an average of 2 hours/day for 5 or 6 days of the week), I've found that the callouses shed less frequently. When they do shed, there is still a callous pad underneath and my fingers are far less sensitive underneath. I also have practically no fingerprints on my fingertips - the skin is all smooth and shiny (a future in crime, perhaps) I think what's happening is that there is an underlying callous buildup and what is shedding is just a surface layer.

Don't worry about callouses. Play often. Play hard. Have fun.

FWIW I'll share my hand 'maintenance' program: Every night at bedtime I rub Burt's Bee's Hand Salve http://www.burtsbees.ca/natural-prod...and-salve.html It started with a problem with fingertip cracking, but I believe a side benefit is that it keeps the callous pad supple and less prone to shedding.

Oh - and when they do start to bubble up/ peel, I'm quite happy to pick/ chew/ bite/ clip the dead skin off - it's really quite fun and entertaining

Steve
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