Ring Swap

Since we got married back in 2011, I've rarely found the need to take off my wedding rings. 

I think I took them off a couple times on our honeymoon for fear of losing them in the ocean. And every 6 months I have to take them to be inspected. Other than that, I usually only take them off when I put lotion on my hands because I don't like lotion getting stuck between the diamonds on the band.

About a year ago, a weird rash broke out on one of my hands and arms. I've got pretty sensitive skin, so rashes aren't anything new to me. I went and saw a dermatologist about it, and he said that I have eczema. Said it was a pretty typical skin condition, prescribed a lotion for when it got really irritating, and sent me on my way.

At first, it wasn't a big deal. The initial rash went away quickly, and my skin was back to normal. I even took a picture the next week and sent it to my mom. She had trusted me to get a new stone put into her engagement ring, and I was sending her the "after" photo. 

Isn't her engagement ring gorgeous?

But lately, I've found myself having to take my rings off for prolonged periods of time. The skin under my rings has become red, scaly, irritated, and at times, painful. 

It started during the winter and progressively got worse. There were times where I'd take my rings off at night and forget to put them back on the next day before leaving for work. My students even started asking why I wasn't wearing my rings. Some days, so that I wasn't entirely without my rings, I'd wear them on a necklace.

Once school let out, I decided to take the rings and get them resized. The summer seemed like the perfect time to get it done. Luckily, when Dan bought my rings, he purchased the insurance plan which allows me to get them resized at any time, free of charge.

We dropped off the rings a few days ago, and they should be back by the end of the month. It feels so weird not having them on! When I go out of the house, I still like to have something on my ring finger. I dug into my jewelry box and found my old class ring. So I've been wearing that around lately so that my finger doesn't feel totally naked.

The nice part about wearing my class ring is that it completely covers the redness underneath and it's still loose enough not to cause more irritation. Plus, it's nice to get a little more usage out of a ring that I haven't really worn in a few years.

Hopefully by the end of the month I'll be able to swap my high school ring back out for my wedding rings. Fingers crossed!