Blister help!

[IntrepidCellist]

Hey guys,

So, I've been having problems with my fingerstyle. I've been developing blisters deep under the callus of my pointer finger on my right hand, and they're fairly painful and a huge problem for my fingerstyle technique.

I have a fair bit of callus on these fingers from years and years of pizzicato cello playing, but it doesn't seem to be doing me much good on my roundwounds.

Is there any way to treat a deep blister like this, and is there anything I could be doing to cause (or fix) this phenomenon?

[Fergie Fulton]

Are you right or left handed and do you have any underlying health problems?

Blisters are caused by friction, this friction is either sustained friction or pressure related as in playing to hard. Blisters occur at the point of contact.

A caluss is skin that has hardend where repeated friction occurs ata point of contact, friction that is too frequent or forceful will cause blisters rather than allow calluses to form.

Look at your instrument is it set-up properly/
Look at your technique, is it good?
Look at how often you play, is it necessary?

The point of contact on a cello is different than a bass, the two bare little comparision, even one bass guitar to another may produce different points of friction and therefore different calusses. So look at what you are doing and take the correct action for your situation.

[IntrepidCellist]

I am right handed, playing righty. Only underlying health problem is tendonitis (which is pretty much alright right now, I've been doing physical therapy exercises and it's been working out well.)

I think I might be digging in too hard, as I'm used to playing pickstyle in a rock band. My action is a bit high because I use these same basses for pickstyle and I like to dig in there too.

With cello, in order to get a good solid pizzicato sound, you have to 'catch' the string with your fingertip and 'pull' it, somewhat vigorously. I think I might be doing the same thing on bass guitar, where it's not necessary to 'catch' it as much.

Could this be the problem? The blister is definitely occurring under existing callus, either on the center of the tip of the finger or a few mm diagonally towards the thumb from center.

[Fergie Fulton]

Originally Posted by IntrepidCellist

With cello, in order to get a good solid pizzicato sound, you have to 'catch' the string with your fingertip and 'pull' it, somewhat vigorously. I think I might be doing the same thing on bass guitar, where it's not necessary to 'catch' it as much.

Could this be the problem? The blister is definitely occurring under existing callus, either on the center of the tip of the finger or a few mm diagonally towards the thumb from center.

I would say so, digging in is a great feeling and i use it myself. If you all just of the caluss the blister will form just on the edge an then run under it. If you dig to hard, the hard skin of the caluss can cause friction in the soft skin it sits on and again a blister can occur. The secret is to cut the friction down to a minimum, products and others like Fret Ease can be a solution, or just some light Olive Oil or similar product.
I have a friend who swears by potato crisps/chips before a gig as it leaves his fingers slippey. LOL