It's happened to all of us: thinking the ring that we put on would come off just as easily as when it first went on. But nope, it's stuck on tight. No amount of tugging will get it off and your poor knuckles, the widest portion of your finger, are sore from all the yanking and heaving that have still produced no results.

In this tutorial, I'll show you a few different methods and tricks that will have all 10 of your digits giving a thumbs up without taking out the jaws of life, or worse, a ring cutter!

Please note that if your finger is going numb and purple, it may be best to go to the ER and have the ring cut. Your well being is (probably) worth more than the stubborn ring's integrity.

Step 1: Twisting

You've been tugging and tugging, but have you tried twisting? For all the methods outlines below, or as your first line of defense, endeavor to twist the ring around your finger: perhaps tiny bends on the ring are obstructing easy removal; twisting could facilitate in promoting better circulation and even pressure. This method will also prevent your skin from bunching up and creating even more resistance.

Step 2: Lubricating

Using a slick or greasy substance, such as petroleum jelly, lotion, soapy water, butter, or oil, may be exactly what you need! Slather a liberal amount on, around, and under the ring. If holding unto the ring becomes too slippery for removal, wear a rubber glove on your other hand to help get good leverage.

The greasy substance you use will nearly diminish any friction between your skin and the inner barrel of the ring. Twisting the ring around your finger will mitigate resistance as well.

Step 3: Elevating

So the ring went on without, well, any drama, but now that sucker is on there tight! Multiple things could have happened in between putting it on and taking it off. One of those things could be increased blood flow. Try elevating your hand above the general area of your heart. This will decrease the amount of blood flowing to your hand, and hopefully deflate any expansion. Try to keep it up for at least 5-10 minutes.

If you find that you have difficulty removing the same ring on a daily basis, you may want to up your intake of water. Bloating extremities, such as feet and hands, are a cause of dehydration rather than having too much water in your body. This sounds counter-intuitive, but it's true. Lack of h2o = swelling.

Step 4: Cold Water

Think back to you high school chemistry class. Aside from falling asleep, you must recall the teacher telling you something about heat making things expand and cold making things shrink. Well, that teacher knew what they were talking about, and we can apply that principle now in helping to take off a stuck-on ring!

Submerge your hand in a bowl of cold/ice cold water for as long as you can handle. This process will lower your hand's temperature, subsequently shrinking it slightly, hopefully enough to allow the ring to come right off.

Step 5: Dental Floss

This process is more mechanical than the others, but should surely achieve where others have failed. Wrap waxed dental floss around your finger, above where the ring is located. Ensure that the floss is wrapped evenly and smoothly past the lower knuckle, which is probably the point your ring cannot go past. Tuck a small end underneath the ring's barrel. With this end, begin unwrapping the floss; this will manually force the ring to twist upwards while inadvertently shrinking the size of your knuckle slightly.