I actually contacted London Fir Brigade to get there position on this – basically not really a problem.
Dear Eric
This email is in response to the enquiry that you made regarding Titanium Rings. There has been much speculation about Titanium being too strong to cut through. Various manufactures claim that a standard ring cutting tool can be used to remove titanium rings from one’s person.
However, there are a variety of ways of removing Titanium rings that are less destructive:
If you need to remove a titanium ring from a severely swollen hand or finger, raise the arm and hold the hand in the air, which forces blood to flow away from the finger and back into the body.
After a few minutes, the swelling should be reduced. If the finger is still significantly swollen, soak it in ice water for a few minutes to reduce inflammation.
· Once the swelling has gone down slightly, apply a lubricant around the finger and knuckle. Effective lubricants include Vaseline, hand lotion, liquid soap, olive oil or saliva.
· Hold the titanium ring with a towel and pull with a gentle, yet forceful twisting motion. Once the ring passes over the swollen knuckle, it will usually slide easily over the rest of the finger.
If this fails to remove the problematic ring then there is a slightly more technical method using string or dental floss:
For best results, use the flat version of dental floss, as this rests more snugly against the finger. You will need at least 2 feet of dental floss for this technique.
· Begin by sliding a few inches of dental floss under the ring, toward the body. The long end should extend toward the swollen joint.
· Grab the long end of the floss and wrap it tightly around the finger, starting just above the titanium ring.
· The dental floss should be extremely snug against the finger; the goal is to compress the swelling as much as possible. Each row of floss should sit snugly against the previous row.
· Continue wrapping until just beyond the swollen finger joint. Take hold of the short end of the dental floss, which should still be tucked under the ring. Use a gentle, slow motion to unwrap the dental floss from the finger.
· As the floss unwinds from the finger, the ring should be pushed along with it. Once the ring passes over the swollen joint, remove it and quickly unwrap the rest of the dental floss.
If these initial attempts fail then there may, in an emergency situation, be a requirement to cut the ring off. It has been suggested that anything with the capability of cutting steal should be sufficient to cut titanium. The London Fire Brigade currently carries standard jewelers ring cutters, hacksaws and bolt croppers on frontline appliances all of which are able to cut steel.
Although these methods may not seem favorable, therefore your email has highlighted the requirement to explore the possibility of more innovative methods to deal with such incidents because of the recent popularity in the use of Titanium for jewelry.
I hope that this answers your question satisfactorily. If you require any further information please feel free to contact me directly.
Regards
