finger tip~tips?

[mandomansuetude]

Just wondering if any one out there has a suggestion for nursing sore finger tips...a balm ...an ointment ...a solution...anything that might ease the pain and promote some toughness.
Bill

[pglasse]

Well yes, actually. I use and recommend this: Climb On Bar

https://climbonp.accountsupport.com/...cgi?p_id=00002

Rub some on your fingertips after you're done playing. I keep the mini bar in the car and apply it on my way home from the gig (at stop lights) or at night before sleeping. The product was developed for rock climbers -- who, like mandolinists, want to keep their callouses but need them to be conditioned and strong. Anyway, the product is all natural and really works -- used by the top rock climbers in the world.

Disclosure: my sweetheart invented the product, so I am biased but I'm sure not the only musician (or rock climber) that swears by the stuff. Choro wizard Danilo Brito said it helped his finger tips too.

All the best,

Paul Glasse
Austin, Texas

[mandozilla]

I have excellent callouses. Never the less, right now they hurt like H**L because I jammed for 8 hours on Sunday.

Sorry, I have no tips (no pun intended) for you...I've always been a 'grin and bear it' kind of guy.

I might give some of that 'Climb On Bar' stuff a try...does it soften the callouses? Deaden the pain? Or?...

Can it be purchased at places like REI or Sport Chalet or ?

DOH! I didn't notice the link.

[Bertram Henze]

...I've always been a 'grin and bear it' kind of guy.

Same for me. If my calluses are not scarred and blackened, how do I know I've been to a session?

8 hours (OP) seem to be a lot, though. Snake oils will carry you only up to a point; go beyond that point, and you'll need a new hand like Luke Skywalker.

Bertram

[greg_tsam]

Dip your tips in rubbing alcohol, once a day, until they are hard. Shortcut to building callouses.

[pglasse]

...I might give some of that 'Climb On Bar' stuff a try...does it soften the callouses? Deaden the pain? Or?...

...Can it be purchased at places like REI or Sport Chalet or ? ...

There is a pain relief component to the Climb On Bar, helped along by the proprietary essential oils. It doesn't degrade the callouses like drugstore hand creams. It conditions the callouses so that, in my experience, you'll see a real reduction in flaking off of the outer layer (or layers) of callous. Again, it was developed originally for rock climbers -- who also need strong callouses. Acoustic bass player friends of mine love the stuff. I use it and it works for me.

Actually, REI does stock the Climb On bar, as do many serious climbing stores -- currently sold in 13 countries...no goofy parabens or other scary stuff.

Paul Glasse
Austin, Texas

[earthsave]

Play more often for shorter periods of time. If they really hurt, quit playing and give em a rest.

Similiar to physical exertion/exercise. Gotta give them muscles/body parts a rest when you work them hard otherwise you could be headed for chronic pain.

[mandomansuetude]

Thanks guys...Paul I'll check out"Climb on Bar"...also liked the rubbing alcohol finger dip idea..Greg...how long a soak? I guess drinking it afterwords would be ill advised ..though it might ease the pain some. Bertram... I really don't want scarred and blackened fingertips...there must be a better way...sound advice earthsave Thanks again guys! Bill

[mandozilla]

Paul
Thanks for the info on the Climb On Bar...I'll order from REI in the morning.

[Mike Snyder]

This can become kinda like research into folk remedies. Stuff I've heard includes Absorbene Jr. (active ingredient is menthol), fingernail polish (crumbles and falls off rapidly), super glue (same), rubbing the tips on a hot frying pan dusted with flour (no kidding, I know a woman six-stringer who actually DOES this), various veteranary concoctions for toughening the pads of hunting dogs. I bought some of the latter, as I had a pheasant dog who could not tolerate Mexican sand burrs.
If you don't know about them, consider yourself lucky. When I put that stuff on my dog, my nose told me that the active ingredient was coal tar. I threw it away and bought dog boots. Thought I had the answer to sore fingers. Nope. Coal tar is a known carcinogen. The answer to soreness:
A good set up and lots and lots of playing time. At the Winfield festival 8 hrs is not unusual. If you wanted to, you could play 24. That doesn't leave much time for libations,barbecue, seeing the stages, or flirting with pretty fiddlers. Whip it like a rented mule, son!

[Donnie Lang]

When needed I use White iodine

[Schlegel]

I use Dit Da Jow. it's a chinese liniment that a lot of martial artists use on pressure or impact injuries. Lots of MA suppliers or traditional chinese medicine stores have it on-line. I frankly do not believe in most TCM "theory" or practice, but this stuff works. Put it before and after a heavy session, and you will be sore for less time.

[barney 59]

I like the alcohol suggestion. Pioneers and klondikers and such saved half of their alcohol for their feet! The other half they drank and late in winter for a treat they ate their boots--sort of like a spiked watermelon.

[mandroid]

Alum, I have been told by an older generation guitar player, is what she used to toughen up her left hand finger tips .

[John Flynn]

I used to get really pronounced, hard callouses on my finger tips from playing, so pronounced that they would sometimes catch on the E string! I would actually have to run an emery board over them occasionally to smooth them out. I also used to get a lot of fret wear. I play now just as much as I did then, but I no longer get the pronounced callouses or as much fret wear. I came to realize that I was using too much hand tension, too much pressure on the strings. I started a concerted effort to lighten up and it has paid off. Now my callouses are there, but they are pretty soft, yet playing even for long times doesn't bother me.

[mandomansuetude]

Many interesting posts...I took the rubbing alcohol (ethyl 70%)approach...dipping the fingers in .. for about a 3 minute soak ..twice a day. although it's only been about a week and a half ..I can report that my finger tips are much improved....I've only been playing for 6 mos. but because I'm retired ..I've been putting in 3 to 6 hours a day..and my fingers were getting raw...the alcohol has done something ,,thats for sure ..tips are harder ...soreness is gone and they feel firm and the strings don't seem to cut in as much...I'm very pleased with the result. Thanks to everyone who offered help. Wm.

[Rhinestone]

I've been playing fretted instruments for around 45 years and all I ever did was play a lot and keep the fingertips smooth with an emory board.
This seems like a good place to tell this story. A friend of mine actually witnessed this. The late great blues/rock guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn used to use heavy strings and a high action on his Strat so his fingertips were often in pretty rough shape. One night before a show after gluing and re-gluing the callous on his ring finger with super glue,it simply sloughed off and was unsavable - leaving his fingertip exposed down to the raw quick. So he took off his cowboy boot and sock in the dressing room and with a razor blade he cut a piece of callous off the heel of his foot and after shaping it with the razor blade,super glued it into place on his fingertip. After a little more manicuring and detailing with an emory board,a shot of bourbon and a bandaid on his foot,he was ready to take the stage. Apparently he had done this before.

[mandozilla]

DANG! Now that's what I call Hard Core! If my callouses ever fell (sloughed) off, I might use some of that liquid bandage stuff...I think it's called "New Skin" but I don't think I do the self-surgury thing...ouch! ...BTW, I miss Stevie Ray.

[gregjones]

You gotta remember Stevie Ray was from Texas.

You know, where they use fresh cow patties for chapped lips. No medical reason--it just stops 'ya from lickin' 'em.

[Ken Olmstead]

My callouses are virtually invisable, but respectable non the less. However, If I cut my left index finger nail too short, it is like I lose some sort of flesh support and let the pain begin! Stange, after all these years and I am still going through growing pains!

[Tobin]

I might give some of that 'Climb On Bar' stuff a try...does it soften the callouses? Deaden the pain? Or?...

After reading this thread a couple of weeks ago, I ordered the mini-bar (.5 oz). I've been using it for about a week now. I just figured I'd post my observations.

Before using it, my calluses were hard and dry, and would peel off over time as new skin grew from underneath (and I admit, I tend to peel the skin off; it's almost as much fun as peeling off scabs from recent cuts). I could tap my fingertips on a table top and it sounded like I was using my fingernails because my calluses were so hard and dry.

After using Climb On for a few days, I noticed my calluses getting softer. They still provide protection from the strings, so the thick padding is still there. But they are more pliable, for lack of a better word. But most importantly, as new skin grows from underneath, the old skin doesn't flake and peel. My fingertips *almost* look like a normal person's fingertips again!

I've been using it 3-4 times a day, or whenever I feel like they're drying out. And it really seems to be working. I love the stuff!

The mini bar cost me $5.75 but the shipping pretty much doubled the cost. I didn't care for that much, but hey, it was more convenient than driving to a store and buying it. They also sent me a small trial-size can of Climb On cream.

All in all, I think this is good stuff. I don't think you'd want to over-use it because it could make your calluses too soft to offer the protection you need while playing. But when used to simply maintain calluses, it's great.

(And no, I'm not affiliated with them, heh.)

[onassis]

Flatwound strings. The decrease in soreness is really remarkable.

[pglasse]

Tobin,

I'm glad you tried the Climb On bar. I've been using Climb On for about a year and a half now. Your positive experience is identical to mine. The product really works -- conditions my existing callouses so they stay on without cracking or peeling -- feels good too.

Regarding your other concern:

All in all, I think this is good stuff. I don't think you'd want to over-use it because it could make your calluses too soft to offer the protection you need while playing.

Frankly, this is not a risk. Climb On is just feeding your own skin, not degrading your callouses like regular hand creams. Again, the top competitive rock climbers in the world rely on Climb On on to repair and maintain the callouses they need for what they do. Compared to what climbers do to their hands a bit of mandolin playing is minor stuff.

All the best,

Paul Glasse
Austin, Texas

[Nox]

Hi guys,
i have started playng about a month ago. I already developed callouses on my fingertips. I don't feel any pain, but i'm worried by the fact that on the fingertips i can see the strings marks, i mean, i have the callous and on it there is the shape of the string (hope this make sense).
My question is, it's normal? or i should i have only callouses without the string marks? Maybe i press too much with my fingers on the strings?

[mandozilla]

Hey Nox (oxides of nitrogen?)!

My callouses are thick as mulehide but whenever I play for a long time...more than an hour, I get the string grooves in those tough callouses...it's 'Normal' IMHO...I guess maybe I grip too tight...I dunno...maybe we both need to lighten up a bit?