sizing help

[coda72]

I just got an eternity band to wear with my e-ring, and I find I am having a hard time getting them off my finger. For some reason, possibly the heat, my fingers have swelled. I''m not sure what to do, my fingers are a size 4 nine months out of the year, but during the summer they seem to have swelled. I''ve gotten to the point right now where I can''t take the rings off. By trying to get them over my knuckle, it''s swelled to the point where they''re stuck on my finger. I''ve tried everything to get them off, wetting my hands, using soap, lotion, nothing is working right now. I guess I''ll have to leave them on until the swelling on the knuckle goes down. Does anyone have any other slippery substance they use to get rings off?

I know in the wintertime that the size 4 will actually be loose on me and my rings will come off almost too easily. So, I''m reluctant to go up a quarter or half size. Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, what have they done?

 

[belle]

if you can''t even get the ring off, it may be too small. i''m not entirely certain whether or not eternity rings can be stretched, but you may want to find out. stretching it just a bit will make it a little easier to remove, yet not too big during the cooler months.

try submersing your hand in cold water and then using dishsoap to work the ring off.

 

[MissAva]

You could try nail oil too. Also be careful with angles and try to pull them off one at a time they will go over your knuckles more easily seperately.

 

[CdnBlingGal]

I went into a jewelery store and tried on a right hand ring. I put it on but I couldn''t take it off.

It woudn''t be so bad if I had liked the ring

. But the guy sprayed Windex, yes Windex on my finger and amazingly the ring came off.

Give that a whirl, hopefully it works.

 

[AndyRosse]

I''ve seen jewelers use Windex too

How about icing your finger to ease the swelling? Or running cold water over your hand?

 

[AndyRosse]

Date: 8/2/2005 10:23:43 AM
Author:coda72
I know in the wintertime that the size 4 will actually be loose on me and my rings will come off almost too easily. So, I''m reluctant to go up a quarter or half size. Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, what have they done?

I have this same problem. But thankfully, during the summer, my fingers aren''t swollen the entire time. When I''m in AC, etc. my hands tend to be less swollen. This is when I can take the rings off if I want. Also, I find it is much better if you take the rings off a while before bed, because once I wake up, my hands are swollen and the rings seem like they will never come off. But during the winter, the rings are often quite loose. So I could never size them bigger without risking losing them during the winter.

 

[thebanjodog]

i have seen a product for this expressed purpose sold in the local jewelry store i use. the name may be ringeze. they have it available for use if customers need it there and also sell it. it was in a white plastic bottle and i believe it was around 7 bucks. i inquired as to how well it worked and they said it was great. i read the bottle and it said it did not make stones look dirty or filmy. the banjo dog

 

[mrssalvo]

Were you able to get it off?

I have noticed my eternity band is a little more snug when my hands are hot but going back into the a/c works for me too. you might want to wait a few months to be sure they''ll be ok in the winter but they can size it up 1/4 a believe if you would need it.

 

[thebanjodog]

boy was i wrong. not even close. i called my jeweler. the actual name of the product to remove rings is slipper. sorry about the wrong name. forget ringeze. the product is slipper. the banjo dog

 

[karenleah15]

Yes fingers swell in the heat. I work in a surgical orthopedic office. We have had patients truely hurt themselves trying to get rings off. DON''T PULL TOO HARD! You can dislocate a knuckle! Instead fill a bucket or pan or something deep enough to get your WHOLE hand in, not just your fingers, with ice water. Mostly ice. Let it sit for up to an hour, then try. It has worked for every patient we have tried it on.

Just make sure you get your whole hand up to the wrist in the ice water. In the office we actully have some women in the ice up to their elbow. The idea is to get the blood up and out of your hand.

 

[rms]

When getting rings stuck in stores, I have also been told to keep your fingers relaxed while trying to remove the rings instead of holding them out straight. That has definitely helped.

 

[windy1365]

I just went through this exact situation. When I first got my e-ring, it was a size 6 1/2... when winter came, it was so loose, so I wanted it resized smaller. The jeweler made it a 6 instead of a 6 1/4 like I wanted. It fit nicely until summer came - plus I got married and had my wedding band soldiered to it. Having the two rings together made them even more tighter. It got to the point where I couldn''t get them off without scraping my knuckle. It was just awful. Even with Windex, it wouldn''t come off without a lot of effort and pain. So, I just left them on all the time - but then I had a superglue accident with the ring and decided to get it resized to a 6 1/4.

I compromised on the size - at 6 1/4, the rings are still tough to get off, but it will come off with cold water or Windex. I take my rings off at night before I go to bed. If I wait until morning, they will not come off.

I suggest going up in size by a quarter size. But, they will be loose when the winter comes. You have to decide what is worse - having a ring that is too tight in the summer or too loose in the winter. I personally can''t stand the claustrophobic feeling of a ring not coming off my finger when I want it off!! Maybe you could get a ring guard put on it in the winter if it bothers you.

 

[rosy]

I think you can have a jeweler "shave" down the inside of the ring to increase the size a bit. I don''t think you can resize an eternity ring any other way.

 

[coda72]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I will be soaking my hand in ice water tonight. For future reference I''ll remember the slipper and windex, but right now I''ve gotten my knuckle so swelled from trying over and over again to get the rings off that I have to reduce the swelling before I do anything else. I may have to get my rings resized a quarter of a size larger, but I''m reluctant to do that. Even now my rings are spinning around my finger but just won''t go over the knuckle.

 

[thebanjodog]

hi coda! i also wear an eternity ring with an e-ring. i have experienced exactly what you describe you are going thru right now. i think the ice will definately do the trick if you do as was advised. i also think if you are not having swelling of the flesh that is too prohibitive, time will allow the joint swelling to subside to where you can remove the ring. sometimes i have found i just needed to leave the ring alone and let the joint calm down. it is a hard thing to ignore but as the old saying goes time heals most things. i have found hair conditioner and cetaphil cleanser to be very slippery and lubricating to help removal of tight rings over the knuckle. good luck to you no matter what method you choose to try. let us know how things work out. the banjo dog

 

[karenleah15]

If the ice water doesn''t do the trick by itself try taking some anti-inflamatories like Advil or iburophen. Then soak your hand and wrist in ice water. Just make sure to give the meds about an hour or so to work.

 

[blkcat]

I read this once, never tried it but it sounded like it might work. You wrap a string around your finger to compress it:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/firstaid/ring.shtml

 

[laney]

How about some preperation H.

 

[coda72]

Well, I attempted the bucket of ice water last night without much success. I don''t know how women leave their hand in that for an hour because after 30 seconds my hand was actually in severe pain from the cold. I''m extremely sensitive to the cold. So, I basically kept dipping my hand in and out of the water. I know that wasn''t the proper technique, but I just could not stand to keep my hand in that ice. The swelling in my knuckle did go down, but not enough to get my rings off. Since I don''t want to go to the hospital to get them cut off, I will just wait until the weather breaks and my knuckle finally goes down. I must have damaged my knuckle pretty badly because as soon as I even tried to slip the rings off over my finger using soap after using the ice, it swelled to twice its normal size again. So, I''m going to give it up for a while.

The only thing that bothers me about not being able to get my rings off is that I can''t properly clean them! I used to be obsessed with cleaning them every day. Since I just got the eternity band, it hasn''t had a good cleaning yet. Oh well, for right now, I just spray cleaner on them while they''re on my finger and use a toothbrush to clean them the best I can.

Once I get these rings off, I''m definitely getting them both resized a quarter of a size larger.

 

[karenleah15]

The ice water will hurt at first. After about 60-90 seconds it will stop, I promise. If you can''t take it try putting a cold pack on your hand for a few hours. Like one of those gel ones that you put in the freezer. You are right about hurting your knuckle. Don''t try to take the rings off for aleast 7-10 days. Let your finger heal. You dont want to damage the bursa on the knuckle. If your finger is ok and isnt turning red or losing feeling you should be OK leaving the rings on. We had a patient today that we had to send to CUT her ring off! It was so sad. She was crying so hard. Poor lady.
Even if you aren''t trying to get the rings off for now, putting a cold pack on your hand every few hours wouldn''t hurt. It will help keep the swelling down and help to keep your rings comfy on your poor finger.

 

[glaucomflecken]

hi!
i had the unfortunate experience of getting my ring cut off last winter because i could not for the life of me remove it. When i was in the ER they tried to use the string compression technique like blkcat suggested, and it really did get the ring off about halfway, but because my finger and knuckle were so swollen it was starting to turn my fingertip purple from the compression. If it wasnt that swollen it would have really come off. and also if you try that wait until the swelling is down because what happened to my finger was that it was so swollen, there was so little room between the ring and the string that every twist and turn the nurse did ripped the skin off my finger, almost like a rope burn.

good luck!

 

[coda72]

Well, I finally got the rings off! I waited until last night which was a few days after I tried to get them off the previous time. The swelling looked like it was down, but I wasn''t taking any chances. I used the string compression technique that blkcat suggested. It worked great! One ring after the other came off easily. So, anyone else that has trouble removing rings this method definitely works. I''m taking my rings today to the jeweler to be resized a quarter of a size larger.

 

[belle]

glad you got the rings off!

you will be happier with them sized larger.