stinging fingers

[BloodXero]

whenever i play for a long time like a couple of hours my finger tips sting really bad. is this normal until i get callouses.

[Black Star]

well everybodys fingers will hurt if you play long enough. Mine are callosed (sp?) but my fingers hurt a lil after i'm done practieing for 4 or 5 hours.

you may wanna lighten up on the strings. you may be pressing to hard, they shouldn't hurt after 2 hours. most people press way to hard than they need to

[BloodXero]

il try loosening up but im trying to keep the buzz down as much as possible.

[eische]

hmmmmmm loosening the strings?????? (won't that mean to tune down the guitar?????) - why not change the tension/gauge of the strings for a beginners-period?????? and then slowly increase it

[BloodXero]

not loosening the strings loosening my grip on the strings.

[eische]

huh, it's my day of misunderstandings, sorry

[BloodXero]

lol, its ok.

[Classical Exile]

I think changing the string guage as Eische said would help, if you play electric then try an 8-38 set, and 10-46 is quite light for an acoustic.

[BloodXero]

yive been planning to try out different string gauges to see what fits me best. its just i have a few things that i have been playing on for over 1 1/2 years and ive never tryed anything else. thats why i want my dad to take me to a guitar shop so i can peruse the store and try out stuff. i get a variety of picks but strings and other guitars are just limited to me.

[eische]

ah, you're not playing on the same strings for one and a half year without a change, please tell me that's just another of my misunderstandings, because such old strings will naturally feel uncomfortable and sting your fingers because they're rough.......

[BloodXero]

its not the same set just the same type and gauge.

[eische]

phew, ok....then......cu

[gck]

There's just one little thing I want to mention about "stinging and tickling" fingertips, without the intent to scare anyone.

If you experience a a stinging feeling in your thumb, index, middle and parts of your ring finger for an extended period of time, you might be develloping carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) which comes from squeezing the median nerve in your wrist. This can happen due to "over-bending" the wrist (which is "popular" among some guitarists). The median nerve sits in the carpal tunnel in your wrist. There is no way to make this tunnel bigger or something in order to avoid it being squeezed, except that stronger muscles holding the wrist can help.
If you have CTS and don't have it treated, this might result in the nerves of those 4 fingers being permanently damaged. People with weak muscles, pregnant and/or middle-aged women, people with too much liquid in their joints (can't express that in English better :( ) are especially in danger.


BUT: mild cramps and tingling in the fingertips is totally normal and you shouldn't become nervous because of just that. CTS isn't really a guitarist's disease, but there are some who got it from guitar playing. But when only those 4 fingers sting a bit (not only the fingertips, but the whole fingers) that's no good any more...

[fizz]

*puts down his guitar, and runs off into the sunset*
:) didnt know that until now :)

[BloodXero]

lol @ fizz, dont worry, but if you really quit ... can i have all your gear:D

the pain hasnt been over a long period of time just stung a little bit for a while.

[fizz]

lol, who quitting? moi?
hell no! if i do, ill put my amp my guitar and pedals on a piece of wood, and put it in the ocean, and whatever country it goes to - the person who finds it can keep it :) unless it tips over of course :) haha, then there will be some heavy metal fish out there,
that would be pretty impressive, youd be on a boat, and a fish would be playing Megadeth, woohoo.

[BloodXero]

lol, i could imagine that. hey i gota go fishing more often. send out some stuff and il be out there in a couple days.

[fizz]

hehe, top stuff.
id do the same, but all you seem to find at the river thames is rubbish heaps, old boats nobody dares using anymore, and pictures of the queen, so i think ill stick to dancing in my underwear at home iggy pop stylee :) imagine THAT! :D - i wanna have you visioning a guy, prancing round in his underwear, mmm. anyhoo.

[BloodXero]

actually id rather not ... you're so boring J/K.

[fizz]

lol *smack* :)
personally i end up pulling off my caloused skin, apparently this makes the skin tougher?

[BloodXero]

pull it off why'd you do that? would that hurt?

[circulus84]

i dont wanna sound mean but suck it up! yeah u will get corns (calluese) then it wont hurt anymore. hang in there

[fretfire]

Be careful with different string guages, it could have an adverse effect on a tremelo bridge if you have one.

[eische]

Originally posted by BloodXero
pull it off why'd you do that? would that hurt?

hehe, no, callouses are like blisters, so they start peeling off by themselves and you end up peeling them off......it's always a bit depressing, because you worked hard for them and they decide to peel off, but the skin underneath grows back tougher.....

[BloodXero]

o ok. my callous is medium hard and its not peeling at all. il be sure to watch for that though.

[Wolfgang]

Just a question @BloodXero, but... How do you have an opinion on everything if your only just getting your callouses. Do you live in a music store or somthing???

[BloodXero]

im not just getting calouses. iv had them its just i ive had some down times when i couldnt play because of vacation or school with lots of home work or injuries. sometimes ive got a buncha other stuff like basketball games. im very busy during the school year. ive had them but they just they're not rock solid or anything. once i started playing guitar about 2 years ago i was totally in to it and i still am. i would go to stores a couple times and try out a buncha guitars ... acoustics, electrics even basses and sometimes percussion. id browse the store as long as possible until my dad made us leave. id be playing each guitar about 5 minutes each and usually we only went to get new strings or a couple picks. there was long points where i was gone and my poor guitar just sat at home in its gig bag for about two weeks at a time when we were on vactaion or i was at camps or in a basketball tourney.