That sucks Harold, though I can think of one instance when having no feeling in your hands is useful for tricking the mind...
As for keyboard vs game pad/controller, you can bind the keyboard controls to a pad if you prefer ( or the main ones ). I'm a game pad man myself & have been since the days of the SNES & PS1, though it only took me a few weeks to really get the hang of using a keyboard ( WASD for movement ) & mouse ( aiming & firing )...