By Patrick Sullivan

• How To Pop Your Fingers
• All The Ways To Crack Your Fingers
• How To Crack Your Knuckles Loudly | Healthfully
• Why Do Fingers Crack

Vaseline (as required) What You Have To Do. Take some Vaseline and apply it gently to. Jul 16, 2018 Drink enough water. As you know, one of the reasons why your finger is cracked is the lack of water. So, make sure you drink plenty of water every day. On average, an adult needs to drink 2-3 liters of water a day. You can also add a few slices of lemonade to the water before drinking. Bathe, wash your face and wash your hands with lukewarm water. May 14, 2018 It can become a habit or a way to deal with nervous energy; some describe it as a way to “release tension.” For some, it’s simply an annoying thing that other people do. If you’ve ever wondered why stretching the fingers in certain ways causes that familiar noise or whether knuckle cracking is harmful in some way, read on.

It had been an intense week of rehearsals in the middle of winter. But cellist Matthew Tifford felt ready for Hansel and Gretel at the former Baltimore Opera Company.

Then disaster struck.

“The callus on my left index finger split open as I was loading my cello into the car on my way to our opening night performance,” Tifford recalls. It was the worst finger split Tifford has ever suffered. But there was a drug store on the way to the concert, so he ran in and bought some Liquid Band-Aid. “It was terrific,” he recalls. “Got me through two evening concerts and a matinee.”

For non-musicians, fingertip splits can be irritating. But for string players, they can be a serious impediment to making music. And cracks often seem to strike at the worst possible time—like right before opening night. That unfortunate timing is not a coincidence. The number of hours spent on daily playing is one major factor in producing splits, Tifford says, so when you’re working hard ahead of a big performance, you’re increasing your risk.

When it comes to cracks, geography is destiny. Living in a cold climate where furnaces dry out the inside air can wreak havoc on your instrument, of course. But it can also turn your fingers into a bloody mess. Splits are a fact of life during Maryland winters, Tifford says. “Playing stringed instruments naturally results in calluses,” he says. “When it gets really dry those calluses can crack or split.”

Prevention Is Key

Younger musicians may be especially flummoxed by this problem, so it’s important to know that experienced string players have developed a huge grab bag of tips and tricks for preventing or treating splits.

Violinist Todd Ehle now lives on the Gulf Coast in Texas, where humidity is high and fingertip cracks are relatively rare. But he grew up in Colorado, where it’s very dry, and he had his first teaching job in Wisconsin. “With technique, the harder we pound the fingers down, the more likely we are to develop cracks,” Ehle says. “So paying close attention to skin care and left-hand tension can really make a difference.”

Apply Bag Balm ointment religiously during winter months, he advises. And wear rubber gloves when doing dishes, since prolonged exposure to water makes cracking much worse. One of Ehle’s students applies Vaseline at bedtime and then wears fingertip gloves called Finger Cots overnight. “Another does something similar, but with hand lotion and white cotton gloves,” he says.

And if things get really bad? “We can apply New Skin, a product that creates a protective layer between the skin and the string,” he says.

Other kinds of self-care can help ward off cracking, some musicians say. Research suggests that sleep deprivation can hurt your blood circulation, which may increase the risk of chapping and cracking. And exercise—even just a brisk walk—can also improve circulation. But other musicians say sleep and exercise don’t seem to make any difference with fingertip cracks, even if both are good for your health in other ways.

Regional Cures

If the problem is often regional, so are the recommendations for prevention and treatment. In North Dakota, string teacher Denese Odegaard says there’s a significant issue with painful skin cracks that appear on the sides of the fingernail. “I used to get them and they would stay all winter,” she says. But she saw significant improvement after she started using a cream called O’Keeffe’s Working Hands.

In Louisiana, violinist and teacher Annie Young-Bridges says that the damp weather means cracking isn’t as much of an issue as it’s been in other places she’s lived. “I’ve had this happen before in north Texas and North Carolina, and my best defense was wearing gloves and [applying] healing lotions in the daytime,” she says. She’s also found it helpful to use Band-Aids and antibiotic ointment or diaper-rash cream on the cracks overnight. “Here in South Louisiana we have Boudreaux’s Butt Paste,” she says.

Some musicians, it should be said, don’t experience the problem at all. “In my 20-year career, I’ve never had a problem with this and haven’t heard about it from my students either,” says violinist Charles Laux, who currently teaches strings at Kennesaw State University in Georgia but who has also lived and taught in dry places like Las Vegas, Nevada.

Worst-Case Scenario

But many other string players have suffered at least one crack bad enough to literally be a show-stopper. And in a real emergency, many musicians reach for what may seem like an unorthodox solution: Super Glue.

Medical experts generally caution against using Super Glue to close cuts—especially deep ones—because it can irritate the skin and cause other side effects. If you’re not careful, you can even glue your injured finger to something else. But it’s frequently used by many violinists in small amounts—think a single small drop—to seal minor cracks. Dermabond is a Super Glue-like substance approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for medical use, but as Tifford points out, it costs about ten times as much.

Tifford, for one, says he’s been using Super Glue on superficial cuts for years with no problems. He says it works even better than Liquid Band-Aid, which really stings when applied to a fresh cut. Super Glue, he says, doesn’t sting at all. “Depending on the placement, the pain of a crack can severely hinder one’s ability to play,” Tifford adds. “A lotion won’t help with that. However, with Super Glue, within minutes you can be back to playing with no pain.”

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Do you ever face difficulties with taking on or off the beautiful ring? Are you bothered by the looking of your fingers? If you have such concerns, I bet you must want to have thinner fingers. Still, the finger look including the length and shape is commonly thought to be given by the genes, there are some controllable things can be done to make the finger skinnier or look skinnier.

How to Make Your Fingers Skinnier

There are some interesting and effective methods for you to try to make fingers skinnier. Why not giving yourself a second chance of getting beautiful skinnier fingers?

1. Reduce Water Retention

High sodium intake is a leading cause of pudgy fingers, as it increases the retention of water inside the body. With a diet including more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, it is possible that your feet and fingers feel swollen quite often.

• Try to limit sodium intake. Salt is not the only source of sodium; other sources include baking soda, disodium phosphate, baking powder, sodium alginate, MSG and sodium nitrate. Also make it a habit to read food labels before buying them. Some foods label to be no sodium, yet, it does not necessarily ensure that there is no sodium in the food, instead, it may refer to a reduced sodium content or no additional added sodium content.
• Diuretics may help. To manage water retention, you may also wish to use diuretics, such as caffeine, dandelion, gingerand juniper. This will help you reduce bloating and puffy fingers, but will not provide a much significant effect.
• Manage certain medical conditions. There are a number of medical conditions that lead to bloating and water retention, so it is advisable to consult a doctor for figuring out the underlying medical cause of your water retention.

2. Lose Some Weight

Weight loss can be a good answer to how to make your fingers skinnier. In addition to the excess weight on your body, you can just try lose the extra weight from your fingers.

How To Pop Your Fingers

• Set small goals can be a good start. A weight loss program can be daunting at first, just set small goals, such as losing 5% of your body weight in the first month.
• Some dietary changes can help. Incorporate in your regime are more whole foods, grown organically. Limit your intake of processed foods; instead, take unprocessed natural foods to make you feel fuller for longer time, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, fish, lean meat, eggs, and soybeans.
• Count your calories to be more aware of your daily intake, for example, replacing full fat milk with low fat skimmed milk. Additionally, you can get involved in a physical activity that you also enjoy.

3. Typing Is a Great Exercise

If you practice typing often, your fingers will be getting frequent exercise, thereby getting sculpted into thinner shapes. So, try to become proficient at typing from now on. It is also a good exercise for developing coordination and strength in your fingers. You can practice typing on various instruments, such as an actual typewriter or even a computer keyboard.

4. Some Finger Exercises

One of the answers to how to make your fingers skinnier is finger exercises. There are a number of exercises specifically designed to make fingers stronger, thinner, and better looking. Do the following exercises as often as you can:

NO.1 exercise is a stretch that can help relieve pain in addition to sculpting your fingers. Gently make a fist with your thumb overlapping your fingers. Hold the fist for thirty seconds. Then release, spreading your fingers as far as you can. Repeat this at least four times on each hand.

NO.2 exercise: find a flat surface and place your hand, palm-down, on it. Slowly, straighten your fingers so that they touch the flat surface. Hold this position for thirty seconds before releasing.

NO.3 exercise is called the claw stretch. Facing your palm, bend your fingers so that the tips touch the joints. The position will resemble a claw. Hold for thirty seconds and release.

NO. 4 exercise: place your hand on a flat surface, palm-down. Lift each finger one by one and then place it back on the surface before lifting the next finger, whilst keeping the palm in touch with the surface.

How to Make Your Fingers Look Skinnier

For the mentioned methods for how to make your fingers skinnier, some people may find these methods show little changes. Fortunately, you also have more options to make your fingers look skinnier.

1. Fingernails

All The Ways To Crack Your Fingers

For a skinnier look of fingers, you canmake some changes of your fingernails. Your nails should be medium length, never too short, and should be either rounder or square. Applying nail polish is up to each individual's choice. Yet, it is true that well-manicured nails help draw the viewer's eyes away from the fingers.

How To Crack Your Knuckles Loudly | Healthfully

2. Rings

Every girl loves rings, but it is also important to choose the right ring for one's body type. In order to make the fingers look slimmer, you should choose a ring with a thin band, avoid overly intricate designs, and cluster rings. For slimmer-looking fingers, wear a ring with a thin band and a small gem. Remember to avoid more than two rings per hand.

3. Watches and Bracelets

Why Do Fingers Crack

It is very easy to make one's hand look pudgier by choosing the wrong wrist accessories. To make the hand and fingers look thinner, a bracelet that is half an inch or less in thickness is ideal. Watches should have a small dial, and the colors should be silver or gold or something subtle. Loud colors are always a no-go.

4. Additional Tips

Make sure you keep yourself hydrated, as lack of water can also cause your body to retain extra water. Lead a healthy, balanced lifestyle. You can also use the trick of wearing gloves more often. You can get gloves in various designs according to the occasion, and they are sure to add a touch of elegance to your outfit, not to mention the additional confidence boost.