How to remove a ring from a swollen finger without cutting!

DakotaDocMartin · Feb 24, 2014

I figured there are enough jewelers on the forum that this trick is worthwhile passing on. I've done it with a string a couple of times and also with a finger ring saw through the years. But, this is even easier. You can buy the same narrow elastic from any fabric shop and would be worthwhile having just in case. :thumbsup:

[video=youtube;DxoAbK5Pc6w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxoAbK5Pc6w[/video]

phil · Feb 24, 2014

:biggrin:Thanks Doc. Great tip. Its much quicker to lop the finger off though. It saves the ring every time.

mdengraver · Feb 24, 2014

Excellent, practical and quite clever.

scott99 · Feb 24, 2014

Thanks for the "new tip", I have also been using string like you but never thought of elastic. As was said before "very clever".

scott99

monk · Feb 25, 2014

very nice trick, guess i can throw away my meat cleaver !

Arnaud Van Tilburgh · Feb 25, 2014

Thanks Doc, I will give it a try next time I have a customer for that

arnaud

Sam · Feb 25, 2014

That's really clever!

Marcus Hunt · Feb 25, 2014

I had a case of white finger from using an orbital sander several years ago. A friend who used to be an undertaker used this technique to remove my ring after my fingers swelled up like sausages. Apparently it was a technique they also use to remove rings from dead bodies. It's incredibly painful on a live person because the swelling has to be bound flat and tight but it does work.

Sam · Feb 25, 2014

I think this is very valuable to know since so many rings are now made of extremely hard stainless steel and carbide which might be difficult or impossible to saw off. I've often wondered how to remove a carbide ring in an emergency. I guess you'd have to shatter it and risk shattering the finger with it, but this looks like a safer method.

Beladran · Feb 25, 2014

Sam i am friends with a few ER doctors. I asked them both about 6 years ago about carbide rings and both said never buy one that they dont have tools that can cut tungsten carbide. He said there is 50/50 chance they can shatter one with vise grips but that also means you got a 50/50 chance of getting your finger removed and re attached in a case of severe hand trama

mitch · Feb 25, 2014

it's been forever since i learned of the string trick -and have never actually had to use it in an emergency situation (but have done the Heimlich maneuver on a great uncle at a Thanksgiving dinner!). however, it seems to me that the recommendation was to start by poking the string (or in this case, elastic) under the ring and wind out toward the tip, then go back and unwind it, bringing the ring off as you go. now that i see this demonstrated, i'd think winding the ligature from the tip toward the palm would be much better because it forces the blood back into the hand, instead of trapping it into the end of the finger. good to know, thanks. (and it's entirely possible i'm just remembering it wrong...

)

Arnaud Van Tilburgh · Feb 25, 2014

sam said:
I think this is very valuable to know since so many rings are now made of extremely hard stainless steel and carbide which might be difficult or impossible to saw off. I've often wondered how to remove a carbide ring in an emergency. I guess you'd have to shatter it and risk shattering the finger with it, but this looks like a safer method.

Sam most jewelers use this tool to remove a too small ring from your finger,

Perhaps we need to replace the sawing blade by one of these diamond wheels just in case the rubber strap wont work

arnaud

Sam · Feb 25, 2014

I have one of those ring cutters somewhere and have never had to use it. I wonder how long it would take the diamond cutter to slice through a carbide ring. Probably a long time

Eric Olson · Feb 25, 2014

They sell a tool similar to a screw-type nutcracker to break the tungsten rings. I think you could also use a vise instead of vise-grips to avoid hurting someone's finger.

mitch · Feb 25, 2014

i've used those cheap diamond cut-off wheels to reconfigure/shorten carbide router bits and i was surprised at how well they worked. went thru the carbide insert and steel bit body without a fuss @ about 3,000rpm in a drill press. took maybe 3-4 minutes or so per side, if that. if you could rig a ring cutter to a foredom motor, it would probably work fine. maybe somebody already makes motorized ring cutters?

but didn't we just learn that you supposedly never need to cut one off? on a less snide note, the string/elastic trick works well for temporary swelling (edema for the med personnel in our studio audience) from a recent injury, but i'd guess an old dowager's arthritic knuckles might not be so easy to compress, as it may not be a simple matter of forcing excess fluid from the finger. there may be calcification or other more solid tissue mass that could resist being constricted by a ligature?

John P. Anderson · Feb 25, 2014

My shop class teacher was right. No rings.

Sam · Feb 25, 2014

I met a carpenter who was standing on a ladder with a nail gun in his right hand and left hand over a ceiling joist. After nailing he jumped from the ladder's 2nd step and his wedding ring caught an exposed nail head and tore is finger off. Fortunately engraving isn't quite so hazardous.

DakotaDocMartin · Feb 25, 2014

sam said:
I met a carpenter who was standing on a ladder with a nail gun in his right hand and left hand over a ceiling joist. After nailing he jumped from the ladder's 2nd step and his wedding ring caught an exposed nail head and tore is finger off. Fortunately engraving isn't quite so hazardous.

A guy from my old home town had a similar story where his uncle jumped down from a grain truck. They kept the finger in a small jar with alcohol as a reminder to the rest of the family.

DakotaDocMartin · Feb 25, 2014

mitch said:
maybe somebody already makes motorized ring cutters?

Power Ring Cutter, for Cobalt, Platinum, Titanium & Stainless Steel Rings

Arnaud Van Tilburgh · Feb 25, 2014

One finger less or more, there aren't much people who use them all, neither do woman wear two diamond ring on each finger although I would like that. Especially when the buy my Ti diamond bands.
Maybe we need an international law saying that every finger that isn't used should have a ring. :biggrin:

arnaud

How to remove a ring from a swollen finger without cutting!

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