When there is pain on your ring finger, your ring has likely developed some issues (or the other way around). If you have your ring stuck on your finger, you need to remove the stuck ring ASAP as it may cause further complications if you don’t.
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Reasons for Ring Tightening
The most common reasons for tight rings are:
- You are wearing a ring that is too small, to begin with. This is common for folks who regularly pick up rings but don’t have the time to try on different sizes. Sometimes, the ring fits perfectly at the store, but once the finger has settled, it expands, and the ring becomes stuck. This is why people should take their time in sizing their fingers at the store, or if you are buying rings from home, take the time to understand how ring sizing works.
- There are cases when people don’t take off their rings, and they gain weight. What happens is the tissue under the ring is compressed, and the added weight sort of grows around the ring. So you have excess tissue before and after the thing. The result is the ring is compressed by muscle, and it would be painful to remove it the way we usually do.
- If your hand has experienced any kind of injury or trauma in the past few days, it may have swelled slightly. The swelling or inflammation may be preventing you from removing the ring. The tissues around the ring would have expanded somewhat, adding to the problem of the ring being too tight for comfortable use.
- Some medical conditions, such as arthritis can increase the size of joints. Our fingers have several joints, and if the ring finger joints are affected by osteoarthritis, the knuckles may have expanded. An expanded knuckle is solid, and it doesn’t give way when you want to compress it slightly, as is the case when we remove a ring. The process of removal will be painful, and you may even injure yourself in the process.
- Finally, there are some instances when the wearer has a condition wherein he begins to retain fluid, and such is the case with people who have kidney disease. The excess fluid is distributed around the body, even on the fingers.
Reminder before removing a stuck ring
Swelling of finger will make you hard to remove the stuck ring, so before you start to remove it, do not frequently move your ring, it will make your finger get red and swelling.
5 Ways to Remove a Stuck Ring
Method 1 – Twisting
Let’s start with the least invasive and painful: twisting. Grab your ring gently with three fingers and turn it back and forth until you feel the skin releases the ring. When the ring presents sufficient motion, gently pull on it until it comes off. Be careful with extra tight rings as you may end up bruising yourself if you become too rough.
Method 2 – Use Windex
Add a small amount of Windex to the affected finger before moving the ring from side to side. Windex will help lubricate the area under the ring and the skins around it, making it possible for the ring to budges from its original position. Remember to avoid being to gruff with the ring as you can hurt yourself in the process. Ease the ring off instead of trying to force it away.
Method 3 – Lubricate your finger
Several other substances can be used to lubricate your finger. You can try different types of vegetable oil, dish soap, shampoo, soap, mineral oil, and even petroleum jelly. You can also use multiple types of lubricant at once to see if that helps. Each case of a stuck ring is different, as our fingers have different dimensions. There is no harm in using different kinds of lubricant to ease away a stuck ring.
Method 4 – Use ice
If your hand is injured, you may have to apply RICE, or resting your hand, submerging it in iced water, compressing the finger, and then elevating it.
The first step is to submerge your hand or finger in a bowl with water and ice. If you cannot tolerate the cold, you can remove your hand from the pot a few times. Position the container and your finger above your head. The affected finger should be submerged in the bowl of iced water for at least ten minutes. Be sure to support the affected hand with your other hand.
After icing your finger, compress the space before the ring with two fingers. After compression, gently grab the ring and move it around, until it begins to budge. Feel free to lubricate this area at this point. If the ring continues to be stuck, repeat from step one and add lubrication again until the ring is finally removed.
Method 5 – Use dental floss
Get some dental floss and wrap the ring evenly until you have a right width covered by the floss. Make sure that the wrap is even and you have a substantial amount of floss on the ring. Unwrap the ring from one point. The wax on the floss and the movement of the unwrapping should be able to remove the stuck ring easily. If this doesn’t work and you are experiencing any pain or swelling from the ring, be sure to reach out to medical services immediately.
RELATED POST: Have you been got a stuck earring? Click to know how to take off earrings that are stuck.
Know Your Ring Size: Learn More About How To Measure Ring Size
- There are several ring size charts in the world, from Asia to Europe. However, they all operate on the principle of half steps from the base size, which is 3 for the US ring chart. Click here to see ring size chart.
- If you have large hands and your knuckles have more girth than the average girth, it would be a good idea to buy a ring that is half a step bigger than what you think is your size. The extra diameter on the ring will ensure that even if your finger expands, the ring will not become stuck.
- Do you measure your finger at home? Measure at least four times so that you can get an average ring size. Measuring just once is not enough. Our printable ring sizer is available for free, click here to download.
- Tie a tin piece of string around the finger that has to be measured. Use this actual sizing to compare your ring size to a chart. Don’t eyeball it. Whenever possible, apply this sizing aid to a printed diagram.
