Will my left ring finger ever go back to normal size?

January 25, 2009 9:15 AM

My ring size has changed since my pregnancy. Is there any hope that it will ever go back to normal?

I had a baby last May. Towards the end of my pregnancy my fingers were quite swollen and I couldn't wear my wedding rings anymore.

The weight loss has been slow, but by July I had un-bloated enough to get my rings back on. I wore them happily until August, when the late summer heat was making my fingers swell again. I had to take the rings off because they were too tight. I haven't been able to get them on again.

I'm now less than ten pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, but my ring size is still a full size larger than it was before I got pregnant. What's more, my right hand is still just about the same ring size as before. My left-hand fingers are still larger.

Could this be because of the pregnancy? Could it be because I used my left arm and hand to carry my son around since he was born? I heard that your dominant hand is often a larger ring size than your non-dominant hand because the muscles are more developed (that's the case with me). Could I have just built up strength in my left hand? Is there any hope that my left hand will go back to normal, or should I just bite the bullet and re-size my rings?

Thanks!

posted by christinetheslp to grab bag (7 comments total)

It most likely is due to the pregnancy. I've read articles stating that bloating can last up to a year after birth, although this thread says otherwise...

Try soaking it in icewater a couple times a day for a week. If this doesn't work, then I'd say you might have to resize your rings.
posted by saxamo at 9:58 AM on January 25

this is all anecdotal, but I constantly hear these kinds of stories from new moms I know: even after the baby weight goes, I hear stories of thicker fingers, jeans that just don't fit the same around the hips/waist anymore, different shoe size. an acquiantance's myopia got worse for the first time in like, 15 years. I'm sorry, it really really really sucks. hope your fingers go back to the way they were, if they don't, consider you're not alone. I doubt even your doctor can tell you for sure. congratulations for the baby anyway!
posted by matteo at 10:31 AM on January 25

(in the meantime, I'm sure you own a necklace, you could wait it out a bit and wear your wedding band around your neck, see what happens to the fingers)
posted by matteo at 10:33 AM on January 25

Yes, two years out my fingers are back to the pre-pregnancy size. I started wearing my wedding ring again when my daughter was 1.5. I was under my pre-pregnancy weight once my rings started fitting.

The other thing to keep in mind is that rings make little divots in your finger over time. If it is even marginally comfortable to wear the ring, try wearing it 24/7 for a week. The little divots will form and your ring will become more comfortable.
posted by crazycanuck at 12:42 PM on January 25

this is probably one of those things where if you wait forever it will never fit, but if you ever get the ring resized, then overnight you'll lose ten pounds and have to get it resized again. proof of the existence of inverse free will! luckily, as jessamyn says, this one is a problem money can solve.
posted by peter_meta_kbd at 12:50 PM on January 25 [1 favorite]

I was just starting to think that my fingers have returned to normal size and I"m 7.5 months out. I couldn't wear my rings for the last 3+ months of my pregnancy and though I'm still above my pre-pregnancy weight,I think the hand swelling is finally going down. So I think you're still in the ballpark for blaming the ring problems on the pregnancy and that it'll eventually resolve. But it's an interesting thought about the carrying of your child. That could be contributing though I don't think it's the muscles (in your fingers?) that are to blame.It could be that the extra stress on your wrists is causing a slight but of carpal tunnel or something similar - and that always makes my fingers swell. I do notice that some days my rings fit better than others still.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 2:25 PM on January 25

I think peter_meta_kbd has it right. Whatever you do, it'll come out wrong anyway :) Some people go back to the usual size and some don't, but for right now, I wouldn't recommend "wait and see if it shrinks", because who knows if it ever will?

For the record, it's easier to make a ring bigger than to make it smaller.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:40 PM on January 26