Ring Removal: String Approach Demonstration

00:01 Okay, so we've tried the other conservative ways.

00:05 We've tried elevation of the finger.

00:07 We've also tried ice compression and that has been unsuccessful.

00:11 So next we're going to learn how to do the string removal technique.

00:16 I know in the video I talked about wrapping from the digit down to the finger.

00:20 But you can also start at the ring, the base of the ring and put the string underneath and then wrap.

00:27 But the first thing that we want to do is we're wanting to lubricate.

00:30 So we're going to lubricate the finger.

00:32 This is just water soluble lubrication.

00:36 I'm not having gloves on at this point because there is no open sore.

00:39 There is no skin. It's going to make it easier to use the string.

00:46 Okay. So we're going to do the string technique.

00:49 So we're actually going to press up on the ring.

00:52 We're going to put it back as far as it can to be comfortable for the patient.

00:57 You're going to slide the dental floss through.

01:00 I did not speak about this earlier on the instructions, but one of the techniques that you can do is take a pair of hemostats to use to hold on to the string so it doesn't go anywhere.

01:10 And so we're going to do that.

01:12 And then we're going to wrap the finger here.

01:15 And we're going to we've already lubricated the finger.

01:17 And so now we're wrapping it as close as we can.

01:24 We're trying to cause compression to be able to elevate the ring off of the finger.

01:33 This is a better process if you're concerned about the finger, the ring itself. It might be a precious heirloom, wedding band, something of that nature.

01:44 Always using the least invasive is always going to make your patient a lot happier.

01:54 And this is tedious, so it does take a little bit.

01:56 It's not something you're going to be able to do real quickly. And you might have to do this several times to get the ring up the finger the way you want it done.

02:08 So we're just continuing to wrap the dental floss.

02:18 Okay. We're going to hold this side of the dental floss now.

02:21 And we're going to begin to move this string around.

02:28 And I'm going to actually unclamp it at this point so I can have better access.

03:07 As you can see, the ring continues to keep moving up with every layer we go around.

03:50 And as you can see, we've removed the ring now off the finger.

03:55 Yay! We have tried the conservative method of ice and elevation, and that was unsuccessful.

04:04 We have tried the string method and that was unsuccessful.

04:08 Now we're going to use the ring cutter method.

04:11 So we're actually going to take a take this in your dominant hand.

04:17 You're going to lift up slightly underneath the band.

04:21 And then you're going to hold on to it with your left hand as you rotate clockwise.

04:29 And this cuts the ring.

04:31 That was very easy. This is a thinner ring.

04:33 We're going to have the patient then to remove.

04:37 You could use pliers or you can use hemostats.

04:40 We currently have hemostats here at the facility I'm working at.

04:45 And we're going to take the ring off the finger.

04:50 We would want to investigate to make sure that there's no issue with skin opening or skin integrity. And I do not see any on this patient.