“Find an Evie ring.
Back in 2024, the Oura ring was all the rage among wellness fans. But one user has warned others about an unexpected side effect of wearing the ring. (Via)
On 17 January, TikTok user Tess Mendelson posted about her bad experience with an Oura ring.
In a video posted on her TikTok account @tessmendelson, Mendelson shows viewers how her Oura ring got stuck on her finger. (Via)
After a hot yoga class that should have been totally fine, she noticed her finger was a bit swollen.
She thought the swelling would go down after a few hours, but it didn’t. Hours later, her finger was still swollen and a bit discoloured.
She tried everything from soaking her hand in detergent to the “string” method of wrapping a rope around her finger to remove the ring. (Via)
But nothing worked, so she had no choice but to go to the emergency room.
So, what even is an Oura Ring?
Well, it’s basically a smart ring that collects data on over 20 different biometrics to keep tabs on your wellbeing. Unlike a fitness tracker like the Apple Watch, which just displays the data, Oura optimises it into a daily score. This score is obtained on a scale of 1 to 100 and in three categories: activity, mood and sleep.
Oura Ring’s daily scores help you get through the day.
For example, if you wake up with a low score, the app can encourage you to get a few more hours of sleep.
In Mendelson’s case, he used Oura Ring to monitor his activity during yoga classes. It tracks all your movements, like steps, calories burned, how often you exercise, and more.
The ring keeps track of all your physical activity, and you can set daily goals through the app.
So, why did the ring make his finger swell up?
Mendelson’s experience isn’t as unusual as you might think.One user commented, “My fingers swell when I move too, girl, it happens to me too.
“And they’re not the only ones who’ve had this experience with the Oura ring. Other users have posted about similar things in their reviews.
According to Dr. Edward R. Laskowski of the Mayo Clinic, hand swelling during exercise is actually pretty common. (Via)
There are a few reasons why this can happen. One is that blood flows more concentrated. When you exercise, more blood circulates through your heart, lungs and muscles, which makes your hands colder by drawing blood away. The blood vessels in your hands then dilate in response, causing swelling.
On the other hand, and more likely in Tess Mendelson’s case, her muscles produce heat by working blood vessels closer to the skin to release heat.
Since Tess participated in a hot yoga class, this may have been the case.
What are some alternatives to the Oura ring?
Unfortunately, doctors had to cut the Oura Ring off Mendelson’s finger, destroying an expensive health monitoring device.
The Oura Ring Gen3 is priced at $249, while the latest model, the Oura Ring 4, is priced at $349.
On the other hand, other health tracking rings with different designs may prevent the ring from jamming if the hand swells, as several commenters pointed out.
One user suggested the Evie ring because it has a slot to avoid this problem.
The Evie ring’s software is very similar to the Oura ring, but it has a small opening in the band. This opening can prevent wearers like Tess from getting stuck, as the ring has the ability to expand around the wearer’s finger if it swells.
Tess says she doesn’t blame Oura for her finger swelling and is happy to have it back.