# What is the science behind getting a ring stuck on your finger? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2002, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-getting-a-ring-stuck-on-your-finger/99655 "2002-03-23T02:31:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-getting-a-ring-stuck-on-your-finger/99655/1 "2002-03-23T02:31:14Z")
What is the physical science behind getting a ring stuck on your finger? I was fooling around with my brass ring today, which I normally wear on my left pinky. I was sliding it up and down my “ring finger” only past the first knuckle, then… woooop, I accidentally sent it over the second knuckle. It was STUCK. I _immediately_ knew three things: -Don’t panic. -Be gentle. -Get it off asap, cause the longer it is on, the harder it will be to remove. Why is it that the ring goes **on** so effortlessly, but is so tough to get going the _opposite_ direction? Going ON, it was literally easy as sliding a ball point pen through the center of a hula-hoop. Getting the ring off, was a a total bitch. I did get it removed, in about 2 minutes, by gently and slowly twisting it as I pulled. No harm done. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-getting-a-ring-stuck-on-your-finger/99655/2 "2002-03-23T03:03:06Z")
Your lucky. Last week I got a ring stuck on my finger and they had to cut it off in the emergency room. ☹ The ring, not the finger. Part of it is that the knuckle swells after the passage. When you try to get the ring off, you push skin, which bunches up and blocks the passage. Also, the finger widens as you near the hand, which means that more skin bunches up. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-getting-a-ring-stuck-on-your-finger/99655/3 "2002-03-23T03:14:46Z")
Arteries pump blood down into the finger from deep inside the finger under high pressure. Veins return blood from the finger to the body from the outer surface of the finger under low pressure. So if you gently constrict the digit, it will swell, as blood continues to flow in, but doesn’t flow out again. Dental floss is very helpful in taking off rings. Slip one end under the ring, then wrap the finger distal to the ring snugly with the floss. Then unwind the floss from behind the ring, impelling it over the finger. It’s a useful trick in the ER when I can’t find the ring cutter. QtM, MD ---
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-getting-a-ring-stuck-on-your-finger/99655/4 "2002-03-23T05:12:20Z")
Thanks QtM and RC. It’s not as complicated as I thought it could be. ---
**Author:** ![SandWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@SandWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-science-behind-getting-a-ring-stuck-on-your-finger/99655/5 "2002-03-23T05:57:25Z")
Getting rings stuck used to happen to me all the time. Then one time I was trying to pull off a stuck ring and it just came right off. So then I started playing around with it to see what was going on and I realized what happened. If I pull a stuck ring off by the sides, i.e. the edges of the ring between the fingers, the skin on the finger would bunch up and make it hard to get off. If I push up on the ‘bottom’ of the ring and then pull, holding my hand flat out, palm down, fingers spread out, in front of me, the bottom being the surface on the closest to the ground, the ring comes off easily. I think this is due to the bottom tendons being spread out as thin as they can be, then the top doesn’t bunch up as the ring, being pushed up, goes over the knuckle and skin. YMMV HTH Sandwriter