Perplexing: An Update

Well, I filed down the one callus on my index finger yesterday, and it seems to be doing fine today. It feels about the same as the others now that the callus isn't as thick. This is one thing that I really love about guitar: constantly learning things, both about playing and about yourself (physically and mentally speaking).

My thoughts about what happened: for myself, I think that part of the pain may have come from my clipped nails. I hadn't trimmed down the corners after I cut them, so the sharp edge of my nail may have started to dig into the skin. As far as the callus, my assumption is that there was so much dead skin accumulated at my fingertip that it was compressing the healthy skin under it. That would explain the sensitivity to pressure. I also found when I got in the shower yesterday that it was more sensitive to heat than the rest. I assume that more blood was being pumped to the area, since that's a natural response to damaged tissue. And of course, the inflammation (swelling and blood rush) would contribute to the pain.

Now, I know I've said in the past not to pick at calluses because they're actually good for protecting your fingers. I still stand by that: actually peeling away the dead skin can pull at healthy skin, making it even more painful, and sometimes causes bleeding. It's sort of like peeling down your cuticles. If they start to hurt abnormally though, (and I don't mean an hour after playing, that's normal), feel free to try filing them down. You'll know when they get really thick because the sensation in those fingers will be much less than in normally callused skin. You'll get to know your body, and you'll figure out for yourself what feels like abnormal pain. As a general guide, I'd say that surface sensitivity (like localized pain from rubbing the skin or sometimes from pressing very hard), as well as heat sensitivity, is normal. If pressing very lightly  on the area (as I said yesterday, about the pressure of typing on the keyboard) makes it hurt, that's probably more of an abnormal pain. If you start to get this sensation of the skin stretching or pulling across the tips of your fingers, that would be a good clue to file down those calluses.

For filing, a simple cardboard nail file will suffice. I'd go after whichever area is the thickest, but try not to file the edges too much, so as not to shrink the physical area of the callus. Leveling them off is a better way of thinking about it. In addition, don't file all the way through the callus; the skin underneath will be very sensitive. And lastly, try to stay away from the healthy skin. Filing that will make your fingers very unhappy.

As always, I hope my mistakes will help you in your journey.

-Kal