GUITARISTS' HAND CARE

One of the most plaguing complaints I hear from students, is the condition of their hands and nails. It could be dry, cracked skin in the winter, or weak, breaking or fragile nails,or water logged calluses in the summer, or nails that break too easily or that their hands are sore. [Actually, I wish more students' hands were sore from playing :-) ] On this page, I'm going to suggest some hand and nail care procedures and products that I hope will help them and you.

Before implementing any of the suggestions on this page, consult your physician or physical therapist. I am not medically trained. That which follows is drawn from my personal experience or that of my students. I make no claims and take no responsibility for any adverse outcome resulting from the information that follows.

The following is a list of conditions and the products I have found most helpful for me and my students, followed by brief comments.

DRY SKIN
If your hands are always dry, have peeling skin, your calluses tear or are jagged or your skin just feels tight, you need to use some kind of moisture. There are a lot of considerations like whether you're willing to moisturize your hands during the day, can you use a milder soap or if you will only moisturize before you go to sleep.

• Corn Huskers Lotion - pure glycerine, strange, mild, non-greasy, fragrance-free
• Zimm's Crack Cream - helps heal cracks (even bleeding ones), soothing, fragranced
• Sweet Almond Oil - almond fragrance, oil is greasy, very effective for dry nails and ragged cuticles
• Neutrogena AgeShield Hand Cream - extremely moisturizing, spf 30
• Eucerin Dry Skin Therapy PLUS Intensive Repair Hand Creme - mild, fragrance-free, non-greasy
• Surgeon's Skin Secret Moisturizing Stick - goes on greasy, absorbs, keeps working after washing
• Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser - extremely mild, fragrance-free, non-drying, non-irritating

DRY BITTLE, CRACK-PRONE OR BREAK-PRONE NAILS
If you play on nylon (or even steel) strings your nails take a beating. Then, there's the day to day abuse - especially if you tend, like many people, to use your finger nails as tools, for removing staples, peeling labels off, scraping things you're cleaning, etc. As a guitarist, your left nails and right nails have different functions and need different care.

If you play righty, begin to learn to open doors, press ATM buttons, punch the numbers on phones, use the remote control and other heretofore right hand tasks, with your LEFT hand. Why? Well, partly for the coordination but primarily to spare your right hand nails some trauma. That single change will deliver your nails from countless fractures and tears.

• BIOTIN - take orally as directed on package to improve growth and strength
• Nightly, use a crystal file to file down any growth of your left hand fingernails
• Frequently (daily or a few times a week) check for nicks or cracks on right hand fingernails, smooth them with a crystal file
• Sweet Almond Oil - rub into the surfaces (top and underneath) of your nails, massage into cuticle, it goes on oily, almond fragrance, excellent for too-brittle nails
• Perfect Formula Gel Coat or Pink Gel Coat (with optical brightener) - apply 2 coats or more weekly, remove once a week and repeat the process, the "pink" optically whitens yellowish nails
  I HAD A VERTICAL SPLIT FOR THE FULL LENGTH OF ONE OF MY NAILS, FOR OVER 10 YEARS. I TRIED SILK PATCHES, ACRYLIC PATCHES, RESIN, CRAZY GLUE, EVERY KIND OF NAIL GLUE ETC. TO NO AVAIL. EACH TIME THE NAIL WAS ALMOST GROWN OUT, THE NAIL CRACKED AGAIN. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO HAVE TO LIVE WITH THE SPLIT FOREVER. AFTER 7 MONTHS OF PERFECT FORMULA PINK GEL COAT, THE NAIL IS WHOLE AND HEALTHY.
• Wipe Out, by Bernadette Thompson - the only truly non-drying, nourishing nail product remover, great for removing Perfect Formula Gel Coat or Pink Gel Coat, no acetone smell

JAGGED CALLOUSES
The calluses on your left hand could become jagged for a variety of reasons. Your skin may be very dry, waterlogged, or they may just be rough from playing. Ideally, you want your calluses intact and not uneven, or they may snag your clothing or catch and become more jagged and tear.

• Blow-dry water-logged calluses, low setting :-)
• Use a crystal nail file to smooth the top and rough sides of calluses
• Corn Huskers' Lotion - non-greasy, fragrance-free to moisturized extremely dry calluses
  

OVER PLAYED, FATIGUED HANDS
If you're diligent about practicing, or aren't so diligent, but love to play guitar, it's likely there are days when you pay for the hours you play your guitar. Sore fingertips, strained muscles and weak fingers and wrists.