Don’t sleep with your rings on!!

[isshoes]

This is a public service announcement for anyone else silly enough to still be wearing rings to bed. Don’t! I woke up in the early hours and felt quite itchy under my wedding and engagement rings, but was unable to take them off! Eventually after trying many methods and a lot of pain, sweat and tears, I got my engagement ring off, but the wedding ring was stuck fast.

A trip to A&E later, plus lots of olive oil, soap, window cleaning spray and dental floss later, said ring has been successfully removed (and didn’t have to be cut off), but my finger is very sore and I will not be attempting to wear these or any rings again until my fingers return to their normal size, whenever that will be.

So my advice is to take them off every night, and if they start to feel a bit tight, leave them off!

You are welcome...

I second this! Two of my rings are too big for me so I wear smaller cheaper rings to keep them in place, panicked because I could only just get them off! Feels weird not wearing them but definitely not worth risking them needing to be cut off!

Hadn't even thought of this...mine still fit the same as they always have so didn't consider the fact my fingers would get fatter!

I'm very lucky to have experienced zero swelling anywhere (33wks pg) yet! But know loads of people who've got their rings stuck! I always take mine off for bed just in case...

@Ninjamilo I hadn’t thought of it, even though I knew your hands and feet can swell. In fact I even took my rings off for a few seconds a few days ago and noticed they were tighter, and still didn’t pay any mind!

In my last trimester I took my engagement and wedding rings off my fingers and popped them on a chain around my neck. It worked well for me so hope that this idea helps others.

I popped mine on a chain when I had a tiny bit of trouble getting them on 34 weeks. I went to try them on now and no hope, fingers don't look any different to a week ago

I don't think I've got my rings off since I was pregnant with my 13 year old daughter tbh.

My rings still spin

Nearly 38 weeks now, and last week my feet swelled up and my rings just started to get a little tight in the evening. Mornings they were fine and still kind of loose...But I didn’t want to risk it. Only got married this year so was sad to take off my nice shiny wedding ring!

I haven't been able to take my wedding ring off for weeks now I think. Is that bad?? Are my fingers likely to swell so much further that it could cause problems?

Tbf at my last appointment the midwife did say I should try to take it off but I didn't quite understand why, and since I didn't manage, I just left it... What do I do now if it's already too late, even with cold water, oil etc??

@Leeela I think panicking makes it worse, so first don't panic :) . If you google there are videos on YouTube how to get a ring off by using a piece of string and it does work. Try running your hand under cold water to cool them down too and also drinking loads of water reduces swelling so get glugging! Good luck x

Thanks Haz - I just feel so silly now reading all this as I just thought perhaps it's not a problem for it to stay on for a while. It's my wedding ring so I wasn't normally taking it off anyway!

I've googled some of the methods of taking a ring off, including with string/dental floss, and had a go just now - but it doesn't even seem to come close!! If I wrap the string around, there is nowhere for all the swollen finger flesh to go It just seems a completely unsurmountable amount of finger for the poor ring to get past!

Oh no :( sorry that hasn’t helped! I’m not sure who you’d consult for help, maybe call your doctors? X

Ok so this is exactly what happened to me Leeela. When I went to A&E they said that as there was still a tiny bit of ‘space’ under the ring at the base of my finger, and it wasn’t affecting my circulation, to try to reduce the swelling over a day or two and if that didn’t work and it was cutting into my finger, to go back and have it cut off. So I elevated my hand as much as I could yesterday, iced it for a bit, then applied window cleaning spray and soap and just gritted my teeth and twisted it up my finger. It was painful but a massive relief.

If there is no space at all beneath the ring, or you think it might be causing circulation problems, go to A&E. If not, maybe try the above for a few hours to a day (and stop trying to pull it off during that time), then if it still doesn’t work, you might have to admit defeat and go to hospital. I think the swelling tends to worsen overnight so don’t try again first thing in the morning.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice OP! I've just seen my midwife and she said as long as I can still move the ring it should be fine, and the swelling might not get so much worse anymore at this stage (am 34 weeks) so I might well be able to sit it out.

Think I'll try the hand elevation/ ice/ soap/ string procedure tomorrow anyway... But if that still doesn't work perhaps I won't go to have it cut off just yet, but see how it develops.

Or do you think that could actually be quite dangerous? Have your midwives/ A&E doctors advised it definitely must come off? My current midwife does seem rather on the relaxed side sometimes and I really don't want to take any risks...

Thanks again

Well I called 111 when it happened to me, and they said to go to A&E within the hour, but that seemed a little OTT. However, I did. But the guy I saw wasn’t worried because the circulation wasn’t affected - he said if it got worse to go back, and then we agreed that if it didn’t improve I would also go back, because I was starting to dig into my finger. My finger now looks pretty mangled, though it’s beginning to recover.

So in sum, the main concern would be if the circulation got affected, or the remaining gap between your ring and the base of your finger started to disappear (as that may affect how easily they can remove it using their tools).

Ah thanks, that makes sense and is very helpful advice! I'll make sure to look out for that.