Swollen Fingers and Wearing Rings in Pregnancy

Swelling in pregnancy can be very normal. You will really see this both as your pregnancy progresses and during the summer months. While you probably have assumed that your feet would swell, you may not expect that your hands will swell potentially as well. This can cause your fingers to swell to the point where wearing your rings is dangerous.

If you can prevent your rings from getting stuck, do so. You might notice that your rings slip on fine in the morning, but are harder to get off in the evenings. This is normal. If you have trouble getting your rings off, you can try holding your hands above your head for a bit, use some lotion to lubricate your finger or even soak your hands in cool water to decrease the swelling. (There are also medical solutions to helping you remove your ring if it's a really bad case. Not all of them involve cutting the ring off.)

What to Try Other Than Wearing Tight Rings

As soon as you start having trouble getting your rings off, it’s time to come up with an alternate solution. Here are some solutions that might work well for you:

• Start wearing a ring that isn’t a complete circle but has a break in it.
• Wear your rings on a necklace.
• Pin your rings on to your clothing with a pin. (Diaper pins can work too!)
• Simply go without rings for a while.
• Order a ring that is larger to wear in the interim.
• Try a silicone ring.

There are other ways to deal with the ring issue. Be inventive and try to figure out a solution that works for you. It's not a one size fits all approach.