Fingerstyle.... but blistered

[cetera]

Hi chaps/ladies....

I got this message from a friend and as someone who plays more with a pick than fingers I don't feel qualified to answer.

Anyone have suggestions on this?

"Hi Gary - I wonder if you could help me! I have a blood blister and a regular blister on my plucking fingers and I have my first show with ******** on Saturday with a rehearsal beforehand. I only ever get blisters if I have been on holiday and not played for a few weeks or if I have been recording and playing for long periods of time. I had a total of 9 hours rehearsal at the weekend.
My query is - should I carefully pop them now and hope they heal for Saturday or should I leave them? They're not as bulky as they were on Sunday but plasters don't work on stage as they come off and I have played on raw skin before and it kills!
What would you do?
Thanks!
Sarah"

Cheers for any help everyone

[Pete Academy]

Pop it and keep playing.

[ThomBassmonkey]

I'd say pop 'em too. I've always popped blisters I've had on my fingers if I have to play.

If he has a long gig, might be worth wrapping some of that tape around his fingers. I forget what it's called, but it's for bandages and stuff. It might help lessen the rubbing a bit. Just obviously be careful taking it off. I've used plasters in the past, but they just made my fingers feel slippy and sent my timing AWOL.

[jakenewmanbass]

My advice is don't pop...
the liquid that is contained in a blister has properties that harden the skin underneath so the longer the blister is there the better. Whatever happens it's not a long term problem but I would suggest trying to be a bit more consistent in amount of time played in future (ie not a huge amount all of a sudden) obviously, if it's possible.

And as an upright player I'm going to pull rank on the two answers above... where skin toughness is concerned bass guitar is for sissies

Edited April 14, 2010 by jakesbass

[Tait]

superglue?

oh, and dont pop. i've tried, it doesn't stop it hurting. EDIT: just noticed the gigs not till saturday! pop away i say!

Edited April 14, 2010 by Tait

[davidmpires]

Don't pop,, the liquid will be gone and the skin will tear apart and she will end up playing with raw flesh

[Dood]

The liquid is there as a protective cushion against further damage from too much pressure. If I have had to, I have used a bit of gaffer tape to stop the blister from bursting and to add a bit of protection. Depending on which finger has the blister, it may be possible to work in another finger instead! Sometimes why a three finger technique is useful.

I don't wanna teach to suck eggs or anything, but of course, if big blisters are re-occuring it might be worth looking at technique to prevent it happening in the future. Blisters are caused by playing too hard (obviously) and sweaty/wet fingers. Keep 'em dry and you'll suffer less! Also, as has been said already - any methods for toughening up the finger tip skin will be useful too, such as rubbing in Surgical Spirit.

[warwickhunt]

Been there and don't pop it.

Has Sarah enough experience/technique to use a pick? If so, go for that route.

[Gunsfreddy2003]

Please see the link below:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=50014&hl=biggest+blister"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...biggest+blister[/url]

As the proud owner of that one I would agree to try not to pop it if possible as it takes much longer to heal and really hurts if you do try to play on it. Agree with the comment that you need to look at technique - if you crank up your backline more then you don't have to play quite so hard to hear yourself and that should help.

Mark

[quote name='dood' post='806619' date='Apr 14 2010, 10:17 PM']The liquid is there as a protective cushion against further damage from too much pressure. If I have had to, I have used a bit of gaffer tape to stop the blister from bursting and to add a bit of protection. Depending on which finger has the blister, it may be possible to work in another finger instead! Sometimes why a three finger technique is useful.

I don't wanna teach to suck eggs or anything, but of course, if big blisters are re-occuring it might be worth looking at technique to prevent it happening in the future. Blisters are caused by playing too hard (obviously) and sweaty/wet fingers. Keep 'em dry and you'll suffer less! Also, as has been said already - any methods for toughening up the finger tip skin will be useful too, such as rubbing in Surgical Spirit.[/quote]

Edited April 14, 2010 by Gunsfreddy2003

[the_skezz]

Whenever I've had blisters, I kept on playing - the one time I did pop one, it made it a lot harder (well, more painful) to play.

[Protium]

Don't pop, they will heal more by Saturday than if you pop them.

[LukeFRC]

don't pop.... but if you do bind with pvc electrical tape. protects and yet flexes so you can still play as normal!

[EssentialTension]

Don't pop. Surgical spirit every hour. Buy some picks.

Edited April 15, 2010 by EssentialTension

[Musicman69]

Pop, dont pop.. surgical spirit, super glue.. good luck!
Let it heal anyway but the main thing is to learn better technique/practice and avoid this in future.
Hope it works out ok on sat.

[notable9]

Turn the amp up a lot more more and play very.. vereeee gently..you'll feel much better and it'll do your technique the power of good.

[NJE]

Another for DONT POP!

When I started I used to get them often after long practices and hot, sweaty, humid gigs. The blister will heal well if not popped and will harden very quickly and will very quickly become less sore. The body will reabsorb it and it all helps build up the hard skin on your fingers.

Things that helped me get past this sort of thing were:

1. Turning up the backline so there is less need to play hard to be heard
2. Try and practice more regulalry rather than play for 5-6 hours and then do nothing for a week like I used to.
3. Keep a towel handy (I use beer towels and coincidentally have a BASS mild one) first to dry any sweat of your hands and also handy for wiping the bass clean.
4. If sweat and moisture is the problem try those tennis sweatband things. I had one for my old rock band and it stops a lot of sweat getting to my bass and fingers.

I find superglue makes my fingers feel numb and not connected to the strings when I have used it in the past but know a few people who swear by it.

[cetera]

Cheers all!

I've passed the info on & she's off to buy surgical spirit, electrical tape and NOT popping it. She will adjust her rig/technique accordingly too

[Conan]

[quote name='davidmpires' post='806584' date='Apr 14 2010, 09:51 PM'].... the skin will tear apart and she will end up playing with raw flesh[/quote]

You paint a beautiful picture my friend!!

BTW, I didn't realise that Raw Flesh were looking for a new bass player...?

Edited April 15, 2010 by Conan

[oksocialbass]

Not to start a one upsmanship contest, but I've had a few absolute monster blood blisters (far larger than the pics in other posts) on my fingers in my time. I'd advise sticking a pin in it ASAP and slowly letting the fluid out.

If it is a blood blister, then the blood underneath will conjeal and harden in a day and does actually provide a comfortable fingertip to then play with in about 2 days. Gradually the skin will crack over the following week or so - DO NOT PEEL OFF! If you leave it to come off when playing it will mean you aren't ever using red raw fingers to play.

Just my opinion.

[ashevans09]

There's also this old technique -

1) Put superglue on the finger tips of one hand
2) Place them on your forearm and hold them there
3) Let glue dry
4) Rip fingers off forearm, taking skin from forearm with them
5) Repeat for other hand

= extra thick fingers!

[jakenewmanbass]

[quote name='ashevans09' post='807103' date='Apr 15 2010, 01:24 PM']There's also this old technique -

1) Put superglue on the finger tips of one hand
2) Place them on your forearm and hold them there
3) Let glue dry
4) Rip fingers off forearm, taking skin from forearm with them
5) Repeat for other hand

= extra thick fingers! [/quote]
Wah
no exaggeration honest...

[Musicman69]

[quote name='ashevans09' post='807103' date='Apr 15 2010, 01:24 PM']There's also this old technique -

1) Put superglue on the finger tips of one hand
2) Place them on your forearm and hold them there
3) Let glue dry
4) Rip fingers off forearm, taking skin from forearm with them
5) Repeat for other hand

= extra thick fingers! [/quote]

Pioneered by Mr Stevie Ray Vaughan, I believe.. for his fretting hand!

[Bay Splayer]

dont know if it works on hands but when i used to teach karate barefoot on wooden floors (back in the day!) i used to use [b]Potassium permanganate[/b] on my feet to toughen them up.

put the crystals in water and the water turns a lovely purple colour but be warned..... your feet/hands and nails will be stained brown, a bit like the nicotine staining that heavy smokers have on their fingers.