How to Remove a Stuck Ring

We've all done it: Go to try on a friend's new ring and uh oh! It's a little too snug and you get that sort of panicky feeling in the pit of your tummy- is it stuck??

Over my many years in the jewelry business, I have fine-tuned a method for getting most "stuck" rings off.

If it is a situation like the one mentioned above, spray the entire finger (front and back) liberally with Windex and slide the ring off. This works wonderfully and does not gunk up your ring like soap or lotion will!

In a more difficult case, say a ring being worn continuously for years that now no longer comes off (because your knuckle has grown, like most people's do!) or when a finger suddenly swells from a big bite on injury, you may want to try my proven method:

1) Start in the morning, when your fingers are typically at their smallest.
2) Have Windex handy. Fill a large bowl with cold water and lots of ice cubes. Submerge your hand into the water for as long as you can. (Folks with poor circulation or diabetes may want to check with their doctor.)
3) Remove your hand from the bowl, quickly saturate the entire finger with Windex, then raise both hands above your head and wiggle the ring to get it off.

If my method doesn't work, in most areas you can go into your local fire station and they will cut it off for you (a relatively easy procedure that sounds scarier than it is!) It's good to be proactive if you can't get the ring off at home. Have it removed BEFORE an emergency makes it a more serious situation!

You would figure that the next logical stop is the jeweler, but I suggest waiting about 3 weeks before taking your ring in to be sized. If it has been on a long time, you most likely have a "ring dent" on your finger which needs to fill in a bit before we can get an accurate size on your finger.

I have seen rings that were cut off right through the top (where the diamonds and gallery are!) when emergency personnel have not been able to just slip a ring off the patient's finger. In an emergency situation, they are not going to be worried about preserving the ring- they are trying to preserve your finger! So to avoid this, take care of getting your ring off and resized now, before you're forced to!