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In the string hand repeated shooting changes the skin and the microcirculation of the fingers

3 studies · 50 archers measured

ForContextAgainst200520102015202020252004, context, n = 352007, for, n = 142020, for, n = 12020, context, n = 1
Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

Two small studies of archers, each on a different piece, and a third in kyudo that does not isolate the string hand. On the skin the data are the simplest: in eight Japanese university archers the index fingertip of the string hand is harder than that of six students who do not shoot (49.3 against 39.8 on the durometer scale), and where the skin is harder small differences in pressure tend to be told apart slightly less well, although the right hand was measured in the controls and the groups are tiny. On the vessels the clearest data come from a case examined with capillaroscopy in 2020: a sixteen-year-old compound archer with finger pain has dilated capillaries, with microhaemorrhages, only on the index, middle and ring fingers of the string hand, the three fingers that hook the string, with the thumb, little finger and bow hand unaffected and every test for autoimmune disease negative. It is the strongest argument for tying the picture to the movement, but it is a single case. The 2004 kyudo study finds in its seven practitioners a weaker response of the finger vessels to raising the arm than in kendo masters (137 against 233 per cent), but the difference appears with both arms, the masters have a mean age of 43.7 against university students, and when the arm is lowered neither the discipline nor the hand makes a difference: it says something about the group, not about the string hand. Riportato: the string fingers do change, but nobody knows how often, or where adaptation ends and damage begins.

Also phrased as: "calluses on the string fingers"; "tingling fingers after shooting"; "the archer's fingertip skin"; "circulation in the archer's fingers"; "pain in the string fingers"

In practice

It is said that calluses on the string fingers are the mark of someone who shoots a lot and should be left to form, and that tingling or pain in the fingers after many arrows goes away on its own with rest.

Evidence

Status history

  1. 2004 Not studied The first data close to the question come from kyudo and concern the finger vessels at rest. Seven university kyudo practitioners show, when the arm is raised, a weaker vessel response than kendo masters, 137 against 233 per cent with the left arm, but the difference appears with both arms, the masters have a mean age of 43.7 against university students, and when the arm is lowered there are no differences between disciplines or between right and left hands. The study does not isolate the string hand, and nobody has yet measured the skin or vessels of the fingers that hold the string: not studied.
  2. 2007 Reported The first study of the string fingers comes from archers and concerns the skin: in eight university archers the index fingertip of the string hand is harder than that of six students who do not shoot, 49.3 against 39.8, and where the skin is harder small differences in pressure tend to be told apart slightly less well. The right hand was measured in the controls and the groups are tiny, but the change is on the fingers that hold the string: a single small study, and the status moves to reported.
  3. 2020 Reported A case examined with capillaroscopy brings the question to the archer's microcirculation: in a sixteen-year-old compound archer with finger pain, the capillaries of the index, middle and ring fingers of the string hand are dilated to more than twice normal, with microhaemorrhages and granular flow, while the thumb, little finger and the whole bow hand are unaffected. Capillary density and architecture are normal, tests for autoimmune and vascular disease negative, and the load was high, one to two hundred arrows a session with a 48-pound bow. The distribution over the three fingers that hook the string ties the picture to the movement, but it is a single case: with two studies in favour, both small and on different things, the status holds.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Studies describe groups of archers, and your own numbers show how far the finding applies to your shooting.

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Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). In the string hand repeated shooting changes the skin and the microcirculation of the fingers (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/string-hand-skin-microcirculation

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_manocordaditaadattamenti,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {In the string hand repeated shooting changes the skin and the microcirculation of the fingers},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/string-hand-skin-microcirculation},
  note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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