[srick]

Same here-

I am in the healthcare field and wash my hands some 20-40 times daily. Last winter, it led to split fingertips which are terribly painful and slow to heal.All of the cyano-acrylate glue in the world (and I have the medical grade stuff) didn't really help much.

So for the righthand, I am using fingerpicks as opposed to my bare fingertips. I've tried various combinations including Alaska picks, etc. Presently I like a Fred Kelly speed pick and Fred Kelly 'freedom' poly pick. I also like the pro-piks, but they can be very 'clangy'. Plus, I have a tendency to catch the edge of the pro-pik when strumming.

Left hand is a different story. Light gauge strings help, but then my instrument doesn't sound so great. Tuning my normal gauge strings down a half step - has really helped the fingers a lot. You should probably try this as a first step.

Also, long ago when I first started, I had tried several sets of flat-wound strings - I love these and should probably try some again.

Generally, I favor John Pearse strings, but have also found the Martin strings to sound good on my instruments.