Apple Watch Sensor burns

I purchased an Apple Watch Series 6 about 1 year ago. About a month ago I started noticing that it gives burns on the wrist, either under the watch itself, or on the opposite side under the metallic piece. As a medical professional I can tell you for sure that these are not allergic reactions. These are definitely burns. They don't appear all the time. I wear my watch on a constant basis (night and day) because I have cardiac problems. I use the watch sensors multiple times a day to measure my EKG, blood O2, heartbeats. I also monitor my sleep patterns and so on. I believe Apple is long overdue to explain themselves how could they allow this, considering the price tag they put on this watch. And please, don't send me to the doctor. I trained for 9 years to be able to differentiate a burn versus a skin allergy.

Had my SE less than a month and have stopped wearing it due to same issues. After first blistering healed, wore again only for same thing to happen again.

Sore,red,hot itchy blisters that are taking time to heal. Currently have an “open case” with Apple…still no resolution in sight.

Asked many people wearing Apple Watches if they’ve had similar experiences…I seem to be in a minority.

Still,pretty concerning that this is happening to people.

I've had my Apple Watch 4 since they came out. Wear it daily. Clean it 2-3 times a week. Do NOT wear it at night. Just this last month, I started itching under the sensor. After a day or so of this had to take it off as the itching got worse and worse. Have not worn it for over a week now. Itch has quieted some but not completely.

Had similar issue with Fitbit after a year or two where it started itching the same way.

Something is going on with the sensors and how they interact with the skin. Anyone have thoughts/clues as to what that is and why it took over a year to start causing a problem? Is something with the sensor deteriorating over time causing this situation?

My Apple Watch 7 is burning my wrist as well. i don't think it's an allergic reaction to the strap or materials but is caused by the watch running too hot. When i first used it (May 2022), setting up the apps etc caused it to run quite hot. Once it settled down the irritation passed. This week (Dec2022) i have activated the sleep tracking app which has resulted in increased battery usuage and i assume added heat. As a result i now have burns and blisters on the point of contact with the sensor

I had apple watch 6 for a couple of years, but recently it started to burn me too! Haven’t reached out to apple support as most people seems to say there’s no resolution, but hoping Apple know that this is a real issue!

Yes, the same thing happened to me, I didn’t realize it until I took my watch off and had what appeared to be a circular burn mark (see attached). This is not just skin irritation, it’s a burn mark. I will go to see a doctor tomorrow to confirm it’s a burn mark.

I'm having the same issue.. The skin on my wrist where the watch was feels paper thin and is discolored. I'm actually really concerned about this! Has anyone noticed it getting better once the device is removed?

Same for me. I've had a series 7 apple watch for about a year. This is my 2nd apple watch and I've had no problem wearing them for years, until the past 4-6 weeks. I switched wrists for a few weeks and the 'rash' seemed to be healing, but then I swapped back again and the rash came back with a vengeance. I'm still wearing it on the other wrist and I'm now noticing a 'stickiness' under the sensor when I remove the watch. I'm not a sweaty person so this is very strange. I haven't yet developed a rash on the other wrist, but I wonder if it's only a matter of time. Then I won't be able to wear my expensive apple watch! It's very frustrating to see that so many others are experiencing this and there's no resolution of it - most of you being seasoned apple watch wearers where it only recently started happening, as with me. I've cleaned the back of the watch many times. I don't suffer dermatitis in any other area and have no known allergies. It is not good enough for apple to suggest we all see a dermatologist! I've even started wondering if something could be leaking from the watch.

I've had the exact issue. But when I contacted Apple, they told me their engineers determined this was some sort of rash or irritation. Which engineers, I have no idea because the support person stated that Apple (the tech company) only has one engineering department. This was in spite of my doctor confirming this was a burn. This also happened with the Series 7 for me.

Hello, this is not an Apple Watch issue. I do not own any Apple products, but came looking for "Apple Watch Wrist Burn" and landed here, because my Garmin watches have done the same thing three times. Replacement of the watch doesn't really help. Like other respondents here, the issue may not arise for a long time, or it may come back after a short while or a long while. Every sports watch with wrist sensors I have investigated has this same problem.

A dermatologist may not be able to tell you more than that you have contact dermatitis. There doesn't seem to be a solution, despite all the manufacturers being aware of the problem.

Advice from multiple sources says to scrupulously clean the sensors and get them completely dry before putting the watch back on (a completely dry) wrist. Don't use perfumed, scented soaps or moisturizers on the wrist. Don't leave the watch on if you are going to have a wet wrist (kind of difficult if you run and sweat...the idea is to remove the watch as soon as possible after a sweaty session).

The basic advice is to keep the back of the watch clean.... There are myriad articles online like this linked one suggesting what to do: https://gadgetsandwearables.com/2023/01/24/fitness-tracker-rash/

I hope this helps. This is a very frustrating problem for all wrist sensor wearers...you never know if you're going to have it happen to you.

I won't be back to reply to comments...as I said, I'm not an Appleite. Good luck/

Sayti wrote:

I had exactly the same burn. The Apple Store representative wrote in report it is a skin irritation and the other said I might have allergy to nickel. This is a burn not just a skin irritation. And I’m not allergic to any metals.

Although I suppose it's possible that the Apple Store rep could be a doctor moonlighting in retail, I would really suggest you see your doctor.

Same issue. Got my 7 series in April 2022. Wore it fine for months. Suddenly in Oct I get these burns and have to stop wearing it for about 3 weeks. All is good. Wore it for 2 days and it came back even worse! Left it off for almost 2 months wearing it on the opposite hand. How irritating is that! Decided to switch back to my original hand and wear it higher. Did great for about a week. Now I have another burn and worse higher up! It’s only on one arm not both. Bizarro! Didn’t think I needed to contact Apple about it but after reading here, I guess I do! The original burn has left a scar closer to my wrist also.

I have the iwatch 2 ultra, I noticed wearing the watch for a day,my wrist was starting to itch a little. When taking off the watch a burn mark was there. I’m PO because i wanted the watch to analyze my sleep also with stress levels, and blood oxygen. Now I can’t wear my watch anymore.

the same has happened to me, it’s damaged a layer of skin which is detached from the skin on my arm. It’s really painful, like a blister. A bit of skin came off today and it’s bleeding. It hurts to move it.

I’ve had that happen, too. About a year ago with series 7, after I started tracking sleep so was wearing watch almost 24/7. Wore the watch for a month on other (right) wrist while left wrist healed, and stopped sleep tracking. Still, a darker brown patch of skin remains on my left wrist. Noticed increased reddening recently on left wrist under watch, after new watch OS 10 arrived. I just got a series 9 watch, and have turned off all sensors except heart rate. Fingers crossed that will help. I may use other sensors occasionally but will not leave them on very long.

So happy to have found this thread today. I had been looking, but hadn’t seen anything helpful until today. I am not happy this skin reaction is happening to us. Hopefully, Apple will respond and acknowledge.