Digital Crown on my Apple Watch barely recognises any rotation activity

The Digital Crown on my Apple Watch works as a push button, but barely recognises any rotation activity (when it does it’s extremely slow and almost completely unresponsive).

I’ve tried cleaning it multiple times as per the instructions which seem to be ALL over the internet (running under warm water etc.) But none of the multiple attempt have made the slightest bit of difference. And each time I do it takes forever to rotate the Digital Crown enough to eject the water. Imagine having to turn your tap 100 times to get water to come out? And even then it’s sporadic and barely trickles. That’s probably the best way to describe it.

please help. It can’t surely be broken? And if so is there any chance it’s covered under a warranty or something? I’ve had the watch over 2, maybe three, years now and I expect the cost of repairing it will be closer to the cost of a brand new watch 😢

I’ve also made sure I’m upgraded to the latest software, that didn’t help either.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]