Will I ever have feeling in my fingertips again?

I can live with it either way but I was curious about something. I've been playing a lot over the past 2 months and the fingertips on my fret hand are pretty much just oddly hard calluses. I know this is a phenomenon from the strings wearing them out, but the weird part is that I have almost no feeling in these fingertips. For example, if I pet my dog with my fingertips I almost can't even feel it. Does this ever go away or is this just a weird side effect from overuse? I have heard of the callus part but never the lack of feeling thing.

Originally Posted by: gipson71I can live with it either way but I was curious about something. I've been playing a lot over the past 2 months and the fingertips on my fret hand are pretty much just oddly hard calluses. I know this is a phenomenon from the strings wearing them out, but the weird part is that I have almost no feeling in these fingertips. For example, if I pet my dog with my fingertips I almost can't even feel it. Does this ever go away or is this just a weird side effect from overuse? I have heard of the callus part but never the lack of feeling thing.

It's totally normal man/
you start by hurting like hell... then you develop calluses and skin peeling...
along with a hardness.

Over time you keep peeling the damaged skin off your fingers.

Eventually, you develop a very hard second skin that doesn't have much feeling. Even then, when you overdo it, it gets shredded and you kinda peel that way again. but the skin grows back stronger than ever.


It's totally normal and actaully you should be aiming to strenghthen your fingers asap. (without doing it to the point of carpal tunnel syndrom or anything else that's serious.)

I felt the same exact thing as you did - no feeling at all. I'm now on my 4th month and I seem to have more feeling in my fingertips. They seem to be more "normal" as they once were. They also seem softer again. But the calluses are still there as I can now play a lot longer without feeling any pain.

I've also heard that once you get your calluses, you pretty much got 'em for good. Is this true, or would you have to start from scratch if you stop playing for, say, six months?

Hey gipson71,
You wouldn't even have to stop for that long, you can stop for a few weeks and almost go back to scratch. I've picked an acoustic for over eight hours at some jam sessions before, and that can wear most fingers out. I'm not saying for you to play for eight hours, but you definitely want to play enough to keep your callouses. I try to pick a guitar at least once a day, so that my fingers stay in good playing condition.

Most of the gigs I play last 4 - 6 hours, if I let up for even a week I have to play with sore fingers the next night. This is the hardest thing to get past, if you've built your callouses you're ready to learn anything. You don't have to play for hours on end, but play enough to keep those callouses. Also be aware that as you try new concepts, and techniques, callouses will show up in other places on your fingers. If you're making bars, starting to bend strings, even other chord positions will put callouses in other places on your fingers.

After a few months you won't even notice them, unless they aren't there due to a long break. Don't over do the practicing, but keep doing it daily. If you have to take a break, I wouldn't go any longer than a week if possible. You will still notice that you haven't played in a while, but it shouldn't take as long to get back to where you were.

Everyone else has already answered your question, about a lack of feeling in your finger tips. I just wanted you to know the importance of keeping those callouses.

JD

Ditto all the above. It is so weird to "lose" the feeling in the tips. Recently I didn't play for only 5 days. In that short time all feeling had returned, and tips felt normal (soft). Last night I played for about 4 hours and my fingertips are sore as hell.

In my first serious bout with playing many years ago, I was hardcore enough that in tapping my fingers it almost sounded like my fingernails doing the tapping. A slight stretch but not far off. When I stopped for extended period and then picked up again, I regretted that I had soft fingertips.

No worry about damage to your fingertips, it's a good thing that you have them. It means that your fingers are in the right state for being able to seriously play.

You haven't actually lost feeling but the nerve endings are now covered by a protective, hardened layer that remains as long as you consistently play. Like others said (and me), if you quit for any period of time, the protective callouses go away and you feel with the tips again. The ability to feel will always be there.

Just to reiterate, your fingers are where you want them to be right...

Yeah i don't have callouses anymore, but I think the skin is harder than normal.