Can finger calluses from playing guitar go away, even after years of playing?

Question

I am currently a pre-med student and want to be a Surgeon. Right now I am learning the guitar and have concerns about the calluses developing on my fingers. As a surgeon, I will need to have feeling in my fingers. If I continue to play for a few more years, will the calluses go away when I ultimately stop playing in medical school? Will feeling in my fingertips be restored?

Answer 1

Yeah they go away! I mean it's just from you playing for the first time .And it will go away with time! Trust me I've played guitar hero for like hours on end and it get em they go away with in a few days. Just dont play it every day for very long .give your self breaks and gl on your pre med!

Answer 2

When I first started playing I had really tough  calluses that peeled away (yuk I know) if you stick with playing guitar you won't get the tough hard flaking calluses anymore but your fingers will be more resilant to touch. For example if I gently touch a pin on the tips of my fingers I don't have as much sensation as further down the tip.

Answer 3

Calluses will eventually go away. They are only skin ! And how far along in pre-med are you ??

Answer 4

I think they should go away but there could be some residual loss of sensation if you've done it a long time.  Might be a good question to ask someone in the surgery or neurology depts.

Another thing to think about though is that if you're right handed, it might not be a big problem since the left hand is usually the one that gets calluses.  The fingertips of the dominant hand would be much more important in terms of touch than fingertips of the other hand.   (If you're getting calluses on your dominant hand, you could also learn to use a pick or to "fingerpick" instead of strumming to avoid calluses.)

Diane B.