Swollen Summer Fingers? Jeweler's Secret!

I have an autoimmune disease called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)...yeah, say that 5 times fast!  One of the symptoms of the disease is blood pooling in my extremities.  I especially swell in my hands and fingers...so the heat from the HOT Florida summers makes it worse!

I know a lot of people experience swelling in the fingers during the summer time, so I thought I'd share a trick I learned from a local jeweler in Destin.

Do your fingers swell to the point of not being able to comfortably remove your rings?

Mine do!!  I would nervously try to remove my rings at night knowing that they probably wouldn't come off. & if I gave up in the middle of the struggle, they would get stuck and be painful.  So in a panic, I'd run my fingers in cold water & soap pulling and tugging.  

A few months ago, Husband and I went to our local jeweler in Destin (McCaskill & Company) to pick up his new wedding band (long, sad story behind it...but McCaskill helped us find a perfect David Yurman for Hubby).  Of course, as any woman in a jewelry store does, I wanted to try on some rings of my own. Sadly, it was hot day and I couldn't remove my ring...not even for cleaning!  The nice man looked very concerned and asked if I'd thought of having my rings re-sized.  (I have and don't want to...it's really just a swelling issue...why put my shiny ring through torture?)  I explained to him my condition and the fact that it'll never go away.

So the lovely man at the store let me in on a jeweler's secret for getting rings & off swollen (or too big) fingers...

Today's swelling...some days are so bad

it starts hurting.  This is minimal for today's heat.

Ready for it?

WINDEX!

Yes, Windex.  I know...what?!  He grabbed a bottle from beneath their counter, spritzed my finger & low and behold...the ring slid right off.  

I asked the questions you are probably asking yourself...

Will this hurt my ring?  No.  In fact, it is much better than using water & soap, lotion, veggie oil (you never know...).  

Is this bad for my skin?  It could be...don't douse your hand in Windex & wash your hands after.  Simple as that.

Does it help get your rings on? Yes! On & off!

It works so well, I now keep a Windex Touch Ups on my bathroom counter.  I use it for taking off my rings & it's handy for quickly wiping down surfaces in my bathroom.  You can find coupons for the Windex Touch Ups often.

$1.00 off of 1 Windex Touch Ups printable coupon HERE

&

$1.00 off of 1 Windex Touch Ups printable coupon HERE

I hope some of you find this helpful, especially since this Summer weather is here to stay for a bit longer.

Aloha,

Juliana