How do you remove a tight ring?

Most rings get stuck because the finger has swollen, not because the ring has shrunk, so the first step is to reduce that swelling. Raise your hand above the level of your heart and relax it for a few minutes, which lets fluid drain away from the fingers. Cooling the hand helps as well: hold it under cold running water or rest an ice pack against the finger for a short while, since cold tissue contracts. Avoid anything that makes swelling worse in the meantime, such as heat, salty food, alcohol or vigorous hand movement. Fingers are naturally smallest in the morning and after cooling, so even waiting a little while in the right conditions can be enough to free the ring on its own.

Once the swelling is down, make the finger slippery. Plain soap and water is enough for most stuck rings; hand lotion, cooking oil or petroleum jelly work well too, and a quick spritz of glass cleaner is a known trick, as the surfactants in it cut the surface tension between the ring and the skin. Work the lubricant right around the band and over the knuckle, which is usually the point the ring catches on. Then remove the ring with a slow twisting or unscrewing motion rather than pulling it straight off, easing it past the knuckle in small movements. Pulling hard tends to bunch the skin ahead of the ring and makes it harder, not easier. If it begins to move, keep the twisting steady until it clears the knuckle.

If lubrication alone does not work, the string method often will. Take a length of dental floss or thin smooth string and wrap it snugly around the finger in close turns, starting just above the ring and working up over the knuckle, so the wrapping compresses the swelling. Tuck the lower end of the string under the ring, then unwind from that end: as the string unwraps, it walks the ring up the compressed finger and over the knuckle. Work gently and stop if it becomes painful. Some signs mean you should stop trying altogether and get help: if the finger is going numb, turning pale or blue, or is badly swollen and painful, see a doctor. A jeweller can also cut the ring off cleanly with a ring cutter, which sounds drastic but is quick, and the band can be soldered back together and resized afterwards so it looks as it did.