Achilles thumb: sensitivity/vulnerability where the flesh presses into the nail!

[pianophile]

Hello, the thumb is unique (among other reasons) for striking the key from its side edge, exactly perpendicular to the nail, with merely a few millimetres of flesh/cushion between the nail's edge an the piano key. On my right thumb, the nail seems to want to cut or dig into the flesh when this impact is forceful and/or repetitive. The nail is harder than the flesh, and with a thin edge, so this almost seems inevitable, although my left thumb (it seems somewhat better "padded" around the nail, if even by just a millimetre or 2) seems not to have this issue.

Has anyone else experienced or dealt with this issue? It seems to only solution is to try to minimize the impact on the sensitive area, by slightly twisting the thumb for slightly flatter impact, or positioning the thumb a bit deeper into the key to distribute (and absorb) the impact over a wider area.

Very curious if anybody else experienced or addressed this issue of the thumbnail attacking the flesh from the impact, the key and the nail in effect squeezing that tiny bit of flesh with each impact.

[anacrusis]

This has happened to me but it's been the result of, as you say, forceful movements. The answer is to not use excessive force. You can play very loudly with very little effort if you coordinate the movements well. Better coordination also helps if the cause is undue friction against the key because of poorly coordinated movements. You need to rest a bit to let it heal and then investigate or get a teacher to help you with eliminating the excessive force.

[ranjit]

This has happened to me when I've cut the nail too short, but otherwise I've never really had that issue. Sometimes, it's also happened due to dryness of the skin.