How to Get a Ring Off Without Any Pain!

This possibility and a large number of people wearing them creates the relatively common problem of trying to figure out how to get a ring off your finger. The good news is we have the best solution for getting it off in one easy step, even if your finger is swollen!

Rings are easily one of the most common types of jewelry. Often times, people that wear little or no other jewelry will still wear a ring.

This is partially due to engagement rings and wedding rings. Regardless, rings are also one of the only types of jewelry that can get stuck on your body!

Why Rings Get Stuck

Rings getting stuck on fingers is actually a pretty common problem. It can happen for a lot of different reasons, too.

One of the most common causes of a ring getting stuck is due to swelling of the finger. Your fingers may swell for several different reasons.

Injuries tend to cause swelling, so if you accidentally smash your hand in a door or do anything else that could injure the finger that you have a piece of jewelry on, it can lead to swelling that can cause difficulties in taking the jewelry off.

Things like arthritis can definitely cause swelling in your hands and fingers, leading to rings that won’t come off.

Another possibility could be overheating. When you get very hot, your body reacts in multiple ways to help you stay cool.

One thing your body will do to keep you cool is cause some swelling, including in your fingers. Basically, this creates a greater surface area which allows more area for heat to escape your body faster.

Water retention is a common cause too. This can happen to anyone, but it is especially common during pregnancy.

Many women have to forgo wearing rings altogether during pregnancy for this reason. Fortunately, the swelling tends to go down shortly after giving birth.

Even something as simple as an especially salty meal can lead to your fingers swelling up and preventing you from easily removing rings.

Don’t worry, though! You don’t have to rush to the ER or jeweler to have it cut off just yet. We have an easy, one-step solution that will get almost any ring off with no problems!

Remove Your Stuck Ring with this Easy Solution!

Regardless of whatever it is that caused your piece of jewelry to get stuck in the first place, this easy trick should work for removing it!

All you have to do is spray a bit of Windex on the finger. It is seriously that easy! Just spray the solution on your finger all around the ring, and then you can usually just slide it right off.

Sometimes it may require just a bit of wiggling if the swelling was particularly bad, but it should still be so much easier to get it off!

Get Windex here

Windex is an excellent lubricant, but it also has one thing about it that makes it better than other lubricant options.

Properties within the Windex actually cause some slight temporary shrinking of your skin. This usually gives your finger just what it needs to allow you to get your stuck ring off.

Windex is even often used at jeweler’s shops and even in the ER for the purpose of removing rings. Generic window cleaners similar to Windex will work just the same way if that is all you have.

So, what if you don’t have any Windex or other window cleaners on hand at all? If that’s the case, read on as we got more aces up our sleeves.

Alternative Ring Removal Methods

If you don’t have any Windex, don’t worry! We have some other great ideas to save the day! Everyone should be able to do at least one of these methods, so pay close attention.

✓ Other Lubricant Ideas

Most options won’t work quite as well as Windex, but there are lots of options that can still help you out! Hand lotion seems to be particularly good at getting the ring to slide off easily.

You just put it all around the ring by slathering your finger in it. Actual lubricants like KY Jelly are excellent options as well. They help to make the skin on your finger slippery to more easily slide the ring off.

Get the Jelly here

You can also try different kinds of oil like olive oil, coconut oil, or even vegetable oil. The oils may not work quite as well as some of the other lubricant options, but they can definitely be helpful in a pinch.

Soap and petroleum jelly are a couple of more options that you can try out.

✓ Wrapping Methods

Now, if you prefer not to get some type of lubricant all over your hands or if it just isn’t working for whatever reason, you can try wrapping methods. There are a few options here.

Dental floss is particularly popular for this method so that we will talk about that first. Basically, you slide the end of the floss underneath your ring, in-between the ring and your finger.

Then, you will wrap the dental floss around your finger. You want to wrap from the ring up your finger to the knuckle.

You should wrap snugly, but not so tight that it is causing you pain or cutting off circulation to your finger tip. Then, you will take the piece of the floss that is sticking out from underneath the ring on the base side of your finger and begin unraveling.

You’ll do this by pulling it gently up towards the tip of your finger and going around and around your finger. This should cause the piece of jewelry to slowly move up your finger.

Now, you can do this same method with items other than dental floss. A thicker thread of any type or even embroidery floss is a great option if you don’t have dental floss.

You could also use a long strip of gauze or even a strip of thin material of almost any kind. The tricky part can be getting the floss, string, or other material underneath the ring.

If you can’t get it, try firmly placing your finger down on a hard surface as if to push the ring up while pushing your finger down. This can open up a small space where you can slide the floss or other material through. You can use a needle to get floss or string through.

✓ Cold Water Method

Another super easy method is using cold water! Overheating can lead to swelling, so it definitely makes sense that cooling your finger down can help it to shrink down enough to get a stuck ring off your finger easily.

Cooling your finger down will help to shrink your skin slightly and slow down blood flow just a bit, which can both help to get your finger to where the ring slides off easier.

To do this method, you simply have to submerge your finger into some cold water for a few moments.

The temperature of the water should be nice and cool, but not so cold that it is immensely uncomfortable and certainly not so cold that it is painful.

After holding your finger in the water long enough to efficiently cool it, go ahead and try to pull your ring off.

Additional Tips for Ring Removal

In addition to the methods we have gone over above, there are a few more things that you can do. First off, wiggling can make all the difference.

Whether you are just now trying to get a piece of jewelry off without any additional methods, or if you are trying every method you can find, you should also still be wiggling the ring off the finger.

This allows it to move a little at a time without causing the skin to bunch up too much. Try moving one side up slightly and then the other to match it and so on. Wiggle it gently in small side-to-side motions.

If you are too rough, you can cause further irritation and swelling in your finger which can exasperate the problem.

Another thing that can help that you can try on its own or in addition to the other methods we have gone over is elevating your hand.

Put your hand up high above your head for a few moments to help get any built-up fluid out of your finger to hopefully temporarily reduce swelling.

Preventing Your Ring from Getting Stuck

Now that you have hopefully removed your stuck-on ring, you can work towards preventing it from happening again in the future.

If it got stuck because it was just too small, prevention is especially easy. You should always only wear rings that are your proper size.

If you gain (or lose) weight, you should have your jewelry resized to fit properly or even just get new pieces all together in the proper size.

If you aren’t sure what size you should be wearing, get your finger sized rather than just trying on random sizes.

If you accidentally put on a ring that is too small, it could get stuck. They are easier to put on then they are to take off.

That is because as you place the jewelry on your finger, it pushes the skin back and so it slides on smoothly. Then, if the ring is too small, it will cause the skin to bunch up as you try to pull it off rather than just easily sliding off.

Always wearing the correct size can help immensely, but if your problem comes from swelling, then the right size won’t matter.

To prevent rings from getting stuck due to swelling hands and fingers, remember to take them off at the very first sign of swelling. Avoid waiting until they are already stuck if at all possible.

Finally…

Sometimes in the case of injury or severe swelling, it may just not be possible to get jewelry off with the above methods.

If you are having too much trouble or if it is causing you pain, you need to know when it is time to go to a professional.

You can either go to the ER or even to an actual jeweler to get the piece of jewelry professionally cut off. It is not recommended to attempt cutting it on your own as that can be tremendously dangerous.

Instead, allow a professional to do it that has the training, experience, and a proper tool to do it. In the end, it is more about saving your finger than saving your ring.