I've just recently changed my Stratocaster's strings gauge from .9 to .10 because I felt like I wanted a thicker sounding. .9 was a bit too soft sounding and too thin for me. However, I found now the strings tension is extremely tight that it makes bending VERY difficult. Now very often I tend to bend out of tune (a semi tone lower) even when I try to bend really hard with the right posture. And it result in my fingertip's skin are falling off, and within a few hours of playing my fingertips are already hurting so bad that I can't bend anymore, and I have to wait till the next day to be able to play again. I play quite often, it shouldn't hurt this bad, and I think .10 is alright for me, and I've used .10 before, but it's just that this time the tension becomes so tight that makes bending extremely difficult. I don't know is it the setup or what. Is there a way I can release the strings tension and make it less tight by myself? I thought the action is already pretty low, but if lowering the action is the only way to solve this problem, how do I lower the action?How long have you been playing?
The difference between 9s and 10s really is not that big at all. God forbid you ever play an acoustic.
There's no secret just keep playing and your fingers will get stronger.