I watch causing Wrist and arm numbing and pain?

The encouragement to see a doctor isn't a bad one, and you always want to get at least a couple opinions before trying to zero in on what's causing the issue.

First off, try going a couple of days without wearing the Watch, and see if the problem persists. If it does, then it isn't the Watch, and is worth seeing a doctor about, likely one with a lot of knowledge about circulation or muscle pain.

If It doesn't persist when you aren't wearing the Watch, consider seeing a dermatologist to find out if you're having an allergic reaction: it could be to the ceramic back, as most people don't have reactions to stainless steel.

Double check to make sure you don't have the band too tight; if you normally wear watches, you probably have a good idea for what this feels like. The sensors on the Watch need some "pressure" on your wrist, but not a lot.

The pain factor makes me think you're likely having an allergic reaction, or it might be initial onset of carpal tunnel syndrome, but keep in mind I'm not a doctor, merely a layman who's done research into the carpal tunnel issue since I work in front of a computer all day and type really fast, so those are concerns of mine as well. 🙂

I hope the issue resolves for you; I'd hate to think someone couldn't enjoy the Watch because of medical concerns. 😟

Hi

If you experience redness, swelling, itchiness or any other irritation or discomfort on your skin around or beneath your Apple Watch or band, then Apple recommends that you remove your Apple Watch and consult a doctor / physician before wearing it again.

Skin reactions can be a result of various causes including:

• Allergies (eg to nickel).
• Extended exposure to irritants (eg soap or sweat).
• Environmental factors.
• Wearing the band too tightly or too loosely.

More information, including tips from Apple:

• Cleaning your Apple Watch - Apple Support
  

  Includes "Tips to avoid skin irritation, or if you have allergies or skin sensitivities".

• Wearing your Apple Watch - Apple Support
• See under "Skin Sensitivities":

  Important safety information

If you are concerned that your Apple Watch may have experienced above normal operating temperatures, then follow the instructions here:

Keep Apple Watch within acceptable operating temperatures - Apple Support

If you are concerned about a potential hardware defect or other issue, then I suggest that you contact Apple Support (remote diagnostics and/or mail-in service may be available, if required), make a Genius Bar reservation or visit an Apple Authorised Service Provider for assistance:

• US: Apple Watch Service Answer Center - Apple Support
• Elsewhere: Select your country for Apple Watch service and repair information

All models of Apple Watch emit radio frequency (RF) energy. Apple advises that, in order to ensure that RF exposure levels remain at or below the levels reported from testing:

• When holding Apple Watch (any model) near your face, you should keep at least 10mm of separation between the watch and your face.
• When wearing Apple Watch (any model) on your wrist, no separation is required.

Information about Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) limits and the highest SAR values for all models of Apple Watch under specified test conditions (including when worn on the wrist) are available via Apple's website:

Legal - RF Exposure - Apple

I am now on my second Apple Watch as I sold my first sport watch to a friend who hadn't ordered one early enough and didn't want to wait. After a short adjustment, mainly to the size, (I'm a regular watch wearer for many years) I found the aluminum watch very comfortable and a pleasure to use for the 2 weeks I wore it. I received my replacement watch, a 38mm stainless milanese loop, 2 days ago and I have had issues I didn't experience with the sport watch. It is a beautiful watch and works well except for some weird battery issues and that it heated up so much yesterday I had to take it off and my skin was hot and reddened under the watch. I'm not sure if this one has a faulty battery but I'm exchanging it for another sport model. I don't know what it is about the ss milanese but there do seem to be more people with issues with this model. I think the ss milanese has 2 magnets, the magnet in the watch itself as well as the strap magnet, though I'm not sure what difference this makes, if any. My stainless steel strap sticks to the bottom of the watch so it appears there is a magnet there probably as part of the wireless charging system. I personally find this watch feels lighter or certainly less bulky than the sport model and i really like that. I'm sad that there are problems with this particular watch because I think it is really beautiful, but I'm not willing to take a chance on a second one of these so I'm going back to the sport.

I find KiltedTom's blanket rejection of any possibility of biorhythms or anything else he disagrees with fairly offensive. "Your pain is not being caused by radiation or electrical signals." If you're not a doctor, and more importantly, you're not a doctor who has examined Mstattedcanvas, stop making diagnoses. Apple is wonderful at inventing new and wonderful products and I love and happily use them all, but modern life is a huge experiment in progress on the effects of many new electrical, chemical and physical changes in the environment. Unfortunately it can take many years or even decades before negative effects appear, in some cases, and there is no way to fully understand our grand modern life experiment until more time has passed.

Comments like: 'I didn't say these devices don't emit radiation. What I'm saying is you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. If you seriously believe that , then you need to sell every piece of electronic equipment you own and move to a deserted island somewhere where there is not electricity at all." are dogmatic and condescending.

then there is this comment: "Um... no. The heart rate sensor is optical. That means it uses light. If light is causing you a problem, then you have bigger issues than your watch."

I'm not sure what you are trying to imply about their issues but lasers use light and energy from the sun comes to us as light as well as other frequencies. Light can be very powerful. I'm guessing the optical system in the watch it is too weak and well calibrated to cause problems, but light can cause burns and other issues so your logic is illogical.

Good luck Mstattedcanvas, and hopefully a sport watch will be a better option for you and not cause issues. The fact is that some people are a lot more sensitive to their environment than others and this is ok.

Hello all, I have read through this thread and several others regarding the wrist/hand/arm pain.

I received my apple watch on December 29th, 2016. I ordered the SS with the Milanese loop. I noticed on the first day that my arm ached. I thought it was just due to the new device and looking at the watch face. I switched arms and experienced the same pain on the right side. I thought I would just get used to the watch. I watched the tutorials on how to wear it and adjusted the band accordingly.

My husband is a physician and I mentioned the pain to him. His response was that I was having anxiety and that the pain was most likely due to the newness of the device and me thinking about it too much.

Over the week, the pain became worse, almost like a carpal tunnel effect, causing pain in my ring finger in the hand of whichever arm I was wearing the watch. Yesterday, my husband offered to wear the watch for awhile. Fifteen minutes into wear, he said he felt the same thing I did: His arm ached and he felt discomfort. My son tried it on and experienced pain and muscle twitching.

I have put the watch in airplane mode and also switched the watch completely off. The effect is the same. I ordered a sport band and that arrived today. It seems as though I have become even more sensitive to the pain, as almost immediately I felt pain from the watch after putting it on with the new band.

I have contacted Apple and they have been very helpful. I am going to try a different watch case (maybe an aluminum one) to see if that helps.

I wanted to give an update, letting you know that even my husband thought I was crazy, but experienced the same sensation as I did. The only thing I can think of is there is some effect with the charging base on the back of the watch. Even with the watch turned completely off, the members of my family and I can feel pain.

I hope this answers some questions for those of you wondering about the pain and when it occurs. I think it is really weird, and I am super bummed because I absolutely love the watch and all of its' features, and I want it to work for me.

jRossRaphael wrote:

I have had 2 apple watches. I really want to like them. I enjoy the fitness tracker....but I can only wear them watch for a couple days before I have numbing pain where the infrared lights beam low level radiation into my veins.

Infrared lights are beaming only one thing: infrared light. While that is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, it is not ionizing radiation. Until you see a doctor, you won't actually know what your issue is. However, many people have reported that the convex back of the watch presses against a nerve in their wrist. This has been confirmed by doctors as a potential problem. Try moving the watch slightly up your wrist. Even though you say it isn't too tight, try loosening it a bit.

I had to turn off the Heart Rate sensor using Motion & Fitness and all those discomfort like light pain, numbness and other sensations are gone! Mine is a Aluminum Case the very first model.

My wife turned "Haptic Strength" all the way to the left on the Apple Watch app. She says it the tingling went away; however, she still feels the electromagnetic sensation. We surmise it's from the watch checking your heart rate. Give it a shot and let us know.

It's not strange at all, as carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive stress injuries can occur in left, right or both wrists. Which hand do you use for a mouse?

Your really should see a neurologist about the numbness and tingling. There are some simple tests to diagnose what is causing the symptom.

Some people have trouble with the convex back of the Apple Watch pressing against a nerve in their wrist, causing pain. At least one doctor posted that on these forums some time back. As not everyone's anatomy is exactly the same, not everyone will have this problem.

Sounds like classic symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. But IANAD; you should see one.

BSLTRL wrote:

If you put the watch in airplane mode does it not stop the radio transmissions from taking place? Thus ceasing radio electromagnetic waves from being received (though even then not completely)? It may minimize the amount of electromagnetic waves a person is receiving but its not worth the plethora of health issues that can be caused by the adjusting a person polarization. Answering your question about carrying a cell phone, yes I do, but I don't have it affixed to my body 24/7...in fact it normally isn't within 15 feet of me throughout the day, except when I am talking on it, which is for a matter of minutes and not hours like many other people.

There are many things to think about with these watches and ZERO research has been completed:

-What medical issues does a person currently have? Medications and certain ailments may make a person more susceptible to the frequencies that are being emitted by the watches.

-Location of the nearest transmission tower, the closer the tower the more frequency you are to receive.

-What phone are you paired with, most phones emit a different amount of electromagnetic frequency, some more than others.

-What is your profession, some professions work with these EM's frequently. However not mine.

-Where is your location in the world, certain location have different varying polarization and could potentially increase the frequency based on where you live.

Not to mention several other things I will spare you with.

Just because you are one person that doesn't have an issue with your watch doesn't mean other don't...look at it that way.

Airplane Mode disables ALL radios. It does not send anything by radio. It does not receive anything by radio. It stops ALL radio transmission and reception. So if you turn on Airplane mode and you still have symptoms it is not from any transmissions. But if you want a real test turn the watch off completely and see if your symptoms go away.

The rest of your post is a bunch of nonsense words. Polarization? What does that mean? (I know what polarization is; I'm an engineer and I hold patents in microwave technology. Polarization is totally irrelevant). It sounds like you have been reading sources where the author does not know what they are talking about.

With all due respect I don't know what level of knowledge you have which is why I asked you those questions all of which are relevant here. I have done such research, I have consulted engineers and I've actually talked to some doctors I know about this. But I asked if you have done this.

You mentioned Infrared and Bluetooth in your post. This has been extensively studied, several times with blind testing, and there is no know medical issues caused by non-ionizing radiation. And in some of these studies they used patients that had said they knew their symptoms were caused by WiFi or Bluetooth.

Infrared is a separate issue. If you have a disease that makes you sensitive to the light in that bandwave then you could have an issue. It would largely be localized. Since doctors should not treat themselves perhaps you should consult another doctor.

Hi, I had the same issue with series 1. Tried everything but the pain kept coming back so I had to return the watch even though I loved it otherwise. My pain was so severe after 4 weeks -even though I worn it for 10-15 per day that the pain came up to my under arm. I started to worry for my health so I didn't wear it any longer.

Anyway, with series 2 I thought I will give another try and I wear it on my right arm with no issue.

I was wondering what has changed and the only thing I can think of is the ceramic back. I wear it with metal milanes strap. I hope this helps.

in regards to your concern and tot ry to switch off the heart monitor, that didn't work for me neither with series 1. I switched off bluetooth, heart monitor, almost everything that the watch didn't worth to wear it any longer and yet still caused pain. I really have no idea what was the issue.

Just a little note to those who keep saying this is fake and we are lying please consider that, why lots of people search for this issue? Everybody made it up? I talk about my own experience and suffer. this post gave me some comfort a year ago to see I am not the only one because my husband couldn't feel anything neither nore any of my friends. Thanks.

Just got the watch January 3rd. I put it on as soon as I got home from work that evening and opened up the packaging. Within an hour I mentioned to my husband that i thought it was making my arm feel funny. Completely ignored it, went to sleep and went about my next day. I have noticed in the 4 or 5 days of wearing the watch that the worst time for the odd feeling (tingling, warm sensation, slight pain, numbing) is when I'm driving or relaxing at home. When I workout, or am busy doing something, it's fine. I can't figure out if I'm going to just ignore the pain during those times of not moving my arm around or just return the item, in which I had better receive a full refund, because it's not my fault I'm part of the small percentage that this watch is effecting in a negative way. Keep in mind on January 6th I purchased one of the nylon bands (watch was purchased with the sports band) and I'm still experiencing the same feeling. Clearly I am not going to waste my time and more money by seeing a MD, since according to this thread, has already been undiagnosed by others who have seeked their opinion.

as41 wrote:

I'm not claiming to make a medical statement

Which is why we keep recommending that you see an actual doctor (an M.D.).