Guitars ain't the only thing needing the right humidity

beecee

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I think we had maybe 3 weeks of Fall here and then winter came in.

Has gotten down to single digits a few nights already at my off grid weekend place near Wanakeena, (loving my new Lithium battery bank btw) and I spend a lot of time outdoors when there.

Tried playing last night for the first time since I got home....ouch!!

My hands are so dry especially my thumbs that they've split near the nails.....ouch ouch ouch! Finger picking? Not for a few days till they heal. Hard to hold a pick too. Even typing this is a bit of a chore.

Oh well, that Old Forrester Signature helped temporarily.

It got back up into the low 40's in CNY but I was caught in a fun snowstorm in far NE NYS, (Malone), today. My car looks like a salt lick..(for de-icing the roads around here).

That's ok....soon enough we can ski and snowshoe and enjoy 20 below zero backpacking weekends, (no black flies or black bears)!!!

I do love winter around here, as brutal as it can get, but man it is harsh on bodies, cars and guitars.
 

Stuball48

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Beecee:
You got to have a favorite lotion for your skin--do you mind sharing it? My fingers, also, split sometimes. And a bad Tennessee winter would be mild to what you get. Thanks
 

beecee

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Rite Aid has a generic version of Gold Bond that works well and doesn't leave oil slicks on everything you touch but if they get really bad...and they do if my hands get wet outside...I'll use Vaseline petroleum on the tips. No eating fries or playing guitars for a few hours
 

Stuball48

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Rite Aid has a generic version of Gold Bond that works well and doesn't leave oil slicks on everything you touch but if they get really bad...and they do if my hands get wet outside...I'll use Vaseline petroleum on the tips. No eating fries or playing guitars for a few hours


Thanks beecee
 

crank

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Neutrogina hand cream for me. Been using it for 36 years. Doesn't leave my skin feeling greasy.
 

adorshki

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Tried playing last night for the first time since I got home....ouch!!
My hands are so dry especially my thumbs that they've split near the nails.....ouch ouch ouch! Finger picking? Not for a few days till they heal. Hard to hold a pick too. Even typing this is a bit of a chore.
My sympathies are with you Beecee!
One of my biggest fears used to be getting a cut on a fretting finger, or even the other ones, for that matter, given the amount of bareback playing I do these days.

IF the splits become too painful you can use cyanoacrylate (superglue) to put yourself back together.
Interesting.
I'd heard of that and just did a Google search on it.
Apparently a chemical variant of it (butyl cyanoacrylate) was used as far back as Viet Nam, don't remember ever hearing about that.
It's supposed to be more suitable for more serious suturing tasks, more flexible and even has antibiotic properties.
But I also remember a friend telling of a cut his son got playing football that was sealed with medical grade CA instead of stitches, and apparently it was very susceptible to re-opening under stress.
He believed it was because the skin didn't "re-knit" the way it would have "naturally", and in fairness it was pretty deep, all the way through the outer layers into muscle.
For a use like this, I have confidence in Dr. Andrew Weil's assessment:
https://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/balanced-living/healthy-living/super-glue-for-first-aid/
 

beecee

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Eucerin Intensive Repair. It it gets really bad I'll apply it bedtime, then don a pair of white cotton gloves.

I neglected to say I'll put on a pair of exam gloves at night too w/the Vaseline. Of course after I take a shower the next morning I'm back to square one.

Done the super glue when I hiked the Northville Placid Trail about 8 yrs back. Works well but let someone else put it on for you. Don't ask how I know this.
 

davismanLV

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Most lotions and creams have water in them, so they do double duty. Moisturize and seal. The best moisturizer is water. It hydrates and softens your skin. But evaporates quickly. Vaseline is the best at sealing in what moisture you have. Try showering or soaking your hands, then put Vaseline (petroleum jelly) on to seal that moisture in, then gloves.

My last two surgeries, knee replacement and hip replacement, were closed using glue. No sutures. Then tape over the top. Really heals well and they can reapproximate the skin edges better with a continuous bond. Both my heels were sutured and look like Frankenstein repairs by comparison.

beecee, your comment, "Works well but let someone else put it on for you. Don't ask how I know this." made me laugh out loud!!!
 

gjmalcyon

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I neglected to say I'll put on a pair of exam gloves at night too w/the Vaseline. Of course after I take a shower the next morning I'm back to square one.

Done the super glue when I hiked the Northville Placid Trail about 8 yrs back. Works well but let someone else put it on for you. Don't ask how I know this.

Try white cotton gloves instead of the exam gloves. It seems counter-intuitive, but that seems to be the general recommendation. They're stupid cheap on Amazon at just over a buck a pair.
 

dreadnut

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Another couple of suggestions: Pure Lanolin, and Bag Balm, both work well. I have a pair of unlined Goatskin gloves that have natural lanolin in the leather.
 

walrus

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dreadnut

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They actually discovered petroleum jelly (Vaseline is a brand name) in the oil fields, the drilling pipes developed this jelly-like substance (paraffin) from the friction between the pipes, and the roughnecks discovered it had a healing effect on their hands. Robert Chesebrough developed it into a product he patented as "Vaseline" in 1872.
 

adorshki

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They actually discovered petroleum jelly (Vaseline is a brand name) in the oil fields, the drilling pipes developed this jelly-like substance (paraffin) from the friction between the pipes, and the roughnecks discovered it had a healing effect on their hands. Robert Chesebrough developed it into a product he patented as "Vaseline" in 1872.
Y'know, I knew it was derived from petroleum bit don't recall hearing about that oil-field workers' original use.

And then there's "the Vaseline Incident" :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaseline_incident

and Vaseline Glass:
Vasline_glass_glowing.jpg


And you wouldn't believe how many references I saw to using it on guitars.
 
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