Do any of y'all ever get those little "splits" in the skin of your fingers during the dry air of winter? And they're so tiny but they hurt like HELL?
I never did until ten years ago. I remember what I was doing at the time, so the time frame is accurate. In comparing notes (see what I did there?) with other musicians, I found it to be a common painful annoyance. Our fingers are always active on expensive toys so it's not convenient to keep moisturizing them, and the little cuts last forever.
Anyhoo, I've had one on the tip of my right index finger for the past week or so, and that's a pretty important finger in piano playing so it gets no relief. And today is the big double header: a two-hour rehearsal at one school and a performance at another. I can favor it (a.k.a. fake it) at the rehearsal, no big deal there, but the performance is The Little Mermaid in which you almost literally never stop playing. It's not quite Les Miz in that regard, but the second act goes on FOREVER and I will surely be bandaging and nursing my poor little finger tonight.