Weird hand question

[cville]

Can your ring size change (get larger) even if you don't gain weight? My engagement ring is SO tight the past 6 months, to the point where often I cannot wear it, and I haven't gained a pound (in fact, lost a very few). Barring pregnancy, this has never happened before.

It's tight over the knuckle and also where it sits on my finger.

Do I just take it to be resized? Do I have late onset hand gigantism?

[devonpow]

I would guess it’s swelling - not sure what’s causing it though. My rings get tight in the summer when it’s so hot out and almost fall off in the winter. It’s all about heat/swelling for me, nothing to do with actual pound.

Also I never sleep with my rings on (never have) and on the rare occasions I do sleep with them on accidentally my fingers obviously swell because they are tight in the mornings and hard to get off )normal state is fairly loose and they spin easily)

[VillainV]

Yep, could be swelling due to fluid retention, temperature, arthritis, etc.

[cville]

I mean, I get that it could be shorty term swelling. But this feels permanent

[Eagles]

Mar 5, 2023 14:27:45 GMT -5 cville said:

I mean, I get that it could be shorty term swelling. But this feels permanent

My first thought was swelling but if it doesn't fluctuate and feels constant, it won't hurt to talk to your doctor.

You don't have arthritis and you haven't recently given birth (sometimes your ring size goes up and stays that way permanently, like shoe size, after pregnancy) so you might want to say "hey, this is weird, but my rings don't fit. I haven't suffered an injury or gained weight, what could be causing this?"

[aprilsails]

Is it all your fingers? I might be inclined to get checked for arthritis or some other inflammation if it’s across the board and not related to general weight gain.

I sprained my right pinky finger this summer on which I wear my iron ring. It’s been 8 months and it is still very swollen. I got another larger ring to wear for now. I don’t know if it will ever go down again, but it was a very bad sprain and it was surprisingly difficult to splint and immobilize my pinky finger.

[mofongo]

Are they blue, by chance?

Really though I think it can happen, ever notice how large old men’s ears are??

[lilac05]

Mar 5, 2023 16:50:19 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Are they blue, by chance?

Really though I think it can happen, ever notice how large old men’s ears are??

LOL! Blue hands...the great GBCN Mystery!

Fun Fact: Ears and noses never stop growing. (My nearly 100 year old female patient today could confirm it happens to men and women. The joys of aging!)

As for the original question, if it was just the knuckle, I'd think arthritis. Since it's the whole finger and knuckle, I think I'd mention it to your doctor. I personally wouldn't make a special appointment for it, but I'd either send a message through the office app or write it down to remember to ask at my next appointment.

[sent]

Do you use your hands more now than when the ring was originally made to your hands?

My hands went to zero function with my disability. I've noticed as function returned, the fingers on my right hand, particularly my thumb is stronger than the corresponding fingers on my left presumably because I use the fingers on the right a lot more.

[pinkplasticdoll]

My hands have increased in size due to carpal tunnel and/or arthritis. it sucks because my engagement ring no longer fits over my knuckles and I haven't gotten it size because I was hopeful it would decrease but nope.

[DotAndBuzz]

I just had my rings re-sized for the same issue.

Over months/years I noticed they just felt tight, and my flesh (OMG that sounds creepy, but...that's what it is) was kind of being pushed out in front of the ring, towards my fingertip. When I took them off, there was an imprint of my rings around my finger, like my body was starting to grow around them?

and it was getting REALLY tough to take them off.

I had them resized in December, so during cold months, and it wasn't because my fingers were swollen from heat or anything. They increased them by only half a size and they fit so much better. We've been married 18 years, and I think sometimes things just shift around. my knuckles are definitely a little bigger, and I look at my mom's hands, and her knuckles look a touch bigger too. Not arthritic, just like older hands have a different profile, if that makes sense?

See what a jeweler says. It may just be a small adjustment. And bonus, when you get them back they'll look brand new. They clean them SO WELL!

[waverly]

Mine are now tight on me. I’ve gained weight but less than 20 pounds and it’s definitely worse in the summer due to swelling from the heat. I probably need to resize them.

[coltsfan85]

Yep I just got mine resized again. Mine I think is a combo of weight gain due to steroid use and likely arthritis (putting off the actual diagnosis for a bit honestly). So lots of potential reasons for sure. It’s an easy process to resize though eventually you may need more metal added in

[dcrunnergirl52]

Do you have thyroid issues? Are they well controlled?

I have underactive thyroid and a few months ago, I was waiting on some b/w to figure out some med changes. I didn't take meds for about 2 weeks. Apparently thyroid issues can lead to joint swelling, and my fingers/joints must have swelled b/c my wedding and engagement were suddenly SO tight--to the point where I thought I was going to need them cut off. I didn't realize it was from my thyroid until I got back on meds, and it all went back to normal.

[erbear]

Less swelling but I have noticed that in the last year, my hands fall asleep all the time while I’m asleep, and they feel huge when it makes me up. I chalk it up to getting old 🙄

[cville]

Going to go see a jeweler and mention this at my annual physical next month. Thanks all

[scout8]

Have you taken any new medications or supplements? This happened to my H recently and we figured out it was caused by the fish oil he had started taking.

[sdlaura]

Yes, mine did after having kids. So did like my rib cage, even when I was down to my pre pregnancy weight. I assume it’s a similar effect.

My engagement and wedding bands were 3.25 pre kids and then I had to have them increased to a 4. Luckily the jeweler was able to sort of shave off some of the interior metal vs having to redo the whole eternity band.

[stemmie]

I feel like this is one of those age-related things that just sucks. There used to be a meme about knowing "you're old when you look down and your mom's hands are peaking out of your sleeves".

My son recently found an old picture of me from my mid-20s that has a really good image of my hands (slender with tapered fingers) and they are unrecognizable from the washer woman hands I have now. It was sobering. It freaked me out so much that I dug up pictures from when DS was born 10 years later; they were objectively "meatier" even then.

I know I do have some arthritis in them now, so the knuckles are a bit bigger. Heat and pregnancy don't/didn't cause major swelling for me, but my salt intake now can really lead to rings that don't fit.

[protozoa]

I think so. Granted I have gained weight over the past 18 years, but my engagement ring is freakishly small compared to my finger now. Like it feels like there is no way it would ever fit over my knuckle, and its not like I my knuckle is particularly fat or anything. I think my knuckles themselves just expanded or something.

[Deleted]

So when my thyroid was taking a shit, I had swelling in my hands, feet, and face. I actually emailed a company I bought a ring from because I thought they sent me the wrong size. Once my thyroid was removed and I was on the right meds, everything returned to normal. Glad you will talk to your doctor about it.

[Scout'sHonor]

My knuckles swelled up just enough that I can't fit mine on either. No weight gain or thyroid issues, could be pre-arthritis. Need to get my rings resized too.