Over the past week I’ve developed a rather nasty rash on my finger tips and the skin along my thumbs. It started off looking like dry skin, but after it peeled off it got really red, itchy and perhaps a little swollen, especially on my thumbs.
My “downstairs” whistle, a Walton D, has seemed to be peeling a little bit around the holes lately. Has anyone ever had something like this happen to their fingers before? I’m trying to figure out what it is since the doctor’s thoughts were, and I quote, “weird…”
It’s probably not the brass. While different people have reactions to different metals, the strange coating on Waltons is something of an irritant. I think it more likely that you are reacting to it, than to the metal.
My LBW got unblacked and became a LSW when I tried to get the Waltons-sticker-gum off with eucalyptus oil. It was very efficient, but there’s a LOT of that black stuff…
Living up in Ottawa, it could be a reaction to the cold dry winter air. My own fingers get all cracked and painful, and I’m only just north of Albany, where it’s relatively tropical…
Use lots of hand cream on those fingertips, especially at night before bed and after washing your hands. Some over the counter cortisone cream will help with the redness and itch regardless of the cause.
Thanks for the responses guys.
Yeah, I have naturally dry skin, and I shed like a snake this time of year, that’s why I put it off to the weather at first, but it seemed odd that it was only on my tips and where I rested my whistle, plus they’ve never looked like this before. I stopped playing my whistles for a couple weeks and they look better now (although I now have deep creases across my thumbs especially). I’m leaning towards the Walton… suppose it could be some sort of reaction to the olive oil on my flute too… I dunno. Trial and error is the answer I suppose. I’ll let you know what makes my fingers fall off.
It looks like, from a glance at some websites, that people can be allergic to brass (copper + zinc + sometimes bit of other metals), although it is not as common as an allergy to nickel.
Is it possible that the lacquer coating (I’m just assuming this is what you mean—a clear coating) is peeling off and your skin is now being exposed to the metal where it wasn’t before? Is the lacquer peeling off the back where your thumb touches the whistle? In other words, was the laquer protecting your skin?
Have you played other brass instruments? I’m not sure what the small amounts of other metals in brass would be, but I suppose different brasses could affect a person differently depending on what those metals are.
I have another Walton D upstairs that I’ve played for years. This one I’ve been playing more recently and I noticed it was peeling, leaving a tarnished look. That’s why I assumed it was the whistle.
if you have dry skin, please let me make a couple of suggestions. shea butter which is sold in the cosmetic section but if you’d like to really deal with your skin problem let me tell you, whipped castor oil. this is in the black skin and hair care products of just about any store that sells health and beauty aids and has even a small black clientele. and it’s cheap too. this stuff is for skin, scalp, and even a dynamite hair conditioner. i found out about this stuff at a conference for adoptive parents and this session was for white people who adopt black and bi-racial children. you gotta put the stuff on while you’re still wet. you will forget your even had dry skin. (i’m not an adoptive parent, i’m a social worker who works with foster and adoptive parents.)