Well, it may be that I have to take the attitude that I've developed because the "damage" (such as it is) is already done. Indeed, most of the impact occurred 25-30 years ago, when I was busking and needed to generate as much volume as possible. My technique, as developed during those years and only slightly moderated since then, involves freely switching between strumming and picking while wearing the fingerpicks.

I don't believe I touch the surface of the guitar very much these days, if at all, but I undoubtedly played much faster and looser back in the old days, especially when half-delirious after playing nonstop for 6 or 8 hours and continuing unabated.

Actually, I don't much give a s**t that my guitar is not in pristine condition. Nobody's selling it anytime soon. (Maybe after I'm dead.) I am absolutely sure that the sound of the instrument was never hurt -- in fact, it probably sounds better now than when new. All the *important* aspects of its structural integrity are OK (neck is straight, etc.).

Cosmetic considerations be damned! Or, as I noted earlier, one can cultivate the attitude that signs of wear and of age are a cosmetic *plus*.