Anyone had to deal with playing with

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dariusdarius Frets: 619
..psoriasis on the fingers, esp fingertips.

I get a bit of it elsewhere which I just deal with, but this summer it flared up on 3 fingers. Took ages to treat, feckin painful and couldn’t play guitar. Luckily no gigs to screw up until it had subsided.

If it comes back, is it anything anyone has successfully dealt with?
I was going to try superglue but bottled it. 
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Comments

  • Sorry to hear that. Left hand, right hand or both?
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    Doesn't sound good. I don't think that superglue is a good solution.

    I've had problems with fingers over the years, it's a right bummer (not psoriasis). I even tried making a plastic 'fingertip' at one point (unsuccessful). 


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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    Several years ago I had a chemical burn on my left hand finger tips. It came from chemicals in a leather gardening glove. I read up on superglue, and learned that medical glue is different from the domestic kind. I went to A&E to ask for some of their glue. The nurse told me that it wouldn’t be suitable because it could crack whilst playing, and I risked getting a string caught in the crack. She showed me how to put a strip of micropore tape over the finger tip, from nail to pad rather than side to side, and a second strip around the finger tip to hold the first in place. 

    We did the gig, stopping every three songs for me to replace the tape. Whilst it interfered with the flow of the gig we had excellent rapport with the audience.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23955
    Swap to coated strings or stainless steel.

    Nickel makes it worse.
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  • SeshSesh Frets: 1839
    edited August 2021
    Was thinking the same thing. Nickel is a sensitiser so it may be contributing. 
    Can't sing, can't dance, can handle a guitar a little.
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  • dariusdarius Frets: 619
    Already use coated strings. Coating makes no difference when the string itself is the sharp thing making things hurt. 

    @Roland I got really good at wrapping each finger with various tapes but none that could let me play guitar
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  • BillDLBillDL Frets: 7041
    You can buy latex finger "condoms" known as "finger cots".  They are designed for anti-static work where full gloves are restrictive, while others are designed to hold a thin dressing in place on a finger while keeping it clean.  Unfortunately they are too thin and would tear on guitar strings,but there are stronger "gel" finger cots made from thicker silicone that MIGHT be resilient enough.  The problem would be whether you can still feel what you are doing and move around the frets without the finger sleeves sticking.


    The problem is that psoriatic sores need to breathe, and covering them with something that traps moisture and restricts air might make the sores worse.  UV light and salt water helps my brother's psoriasis that now covers most of his torso, buttocks, elbows, fingers, feet, etc.

    I remember a while back there were some ridiculous finger coverings primarily marketed as being an aid to help beginners overcome fingertip pain when learning guitar.
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0895R7W75/

    I am not suggesting that you restrict your searches to Amazon.  I don't like Amazon.  The examples will be available from other places.
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  • I've used Micropore tape in the past with cuts on the fingertip. Managed to find a method that would get me through a whole gig (usually only one finger though),

    I saw this vid a while back, not sure how effective they would be ...



    I suppose brushing up your slide skills would allow an emergency option if all else fails.

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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    darius said:
    ... I was going to try superglue but bottled it. 
    Don’t use superglue. A couple of years ago I woke up on the morning of a gig with a chemical burn on one of my fretting fingers. (It came from the inside of a gardening glove.) I read up on superglue, and discovered that normal superglue has an exothermic reaction as it sets, and can burn your skin. Medical superglue has a different recipe. 

    I went to A&E in search of medical glue. They told me that it would crack during performance, and the string could get caught in the crack. Instead they showed me how to bind a strip of tape around the finger tip to provide an anchor. Then a second strip goes over the finger tip, from top to bottom, attaching to the first strip. 

    Whilst playing the second tape strip wears out. Mine lasted three songs. I had pre-cut strips attached to my amp, and simply applied a new one. It gave an excuse to stop and talk with the audience.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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