I watch causing Wrist and arm numbing and pain?

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.

What Apple made works with about 99.99% of the people that use them. For those that it doesn't they should see a doctor and try to find out which material in the watch, or the way that they are using it, that could be a problem. Garmin uses the same type of battery, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS and materials as the Apple Watch. So are you saying the WatchOS is the issue?

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.

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.

I mentioned my age in the first post as a reference point. I mentioned it again to say I've been wearing watches a long time and don't need instructions or a tutorial on how to wear one. It was the Watch. Not sure why this is such a contentious point. For whatever reason, the Watch and my body did not get along.

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

Sorry it has taken a few days to return. I see you didn't come back to reply to my question, and based on some of the responses, I totally understand why you did not. There are quite a few pages already on this thread, but here are some things that might help or work for you (some ideas have already been posted earlier) :

1. Make sure you are not wearing the watch too tight. Instructions for how to wear the watch are found here.

2. If readjusting the watch does not help, make sure to contact Apple Support here. The Apple Support representative was very helpful and concerned, consulting with the engineers and aiding me in an exchange.

3. Try a different case. Regarding wrist/hand/arm pain and watches, there are threads online from non-Apple Watch wearers having similar pain with the SS/sapphire crystal combination, so this problem isn't limited to the Apple Watch.

4. If exchanging the watch doesn't work, go without a watch for a week and see if the pain resolves on its own. If the pain doesn't resolve, it may not be due to the watch, but some other problem.

The solution that worked for me was to exchange the SS/Milanese band for an aluminum case and sports band. I also tried the SS case with a sport band and still experienced pain. Changing cases was the game changer for me. I hope you are able to find an Apple Watch that works for you!

I've had an apple watch for a few months now and have been using a cheap, 3rd party stainless link strap with no problems.

For Christmas I treated myself to a proper Apple Milanese loop strap but I've had to send it back because I was getting the problems described here, a numbness and tingling in the finger tips of my watch hand.

I've had trapped nerves and nerve problems in my other arm so I'm familiar with the sensation.

With the Milanese strap I noticed this most whilst going to work on the bus with my hands resting on my lap (so my wrist is essentially on my thigh) and also at work typing. These are normal things and I've not had the problem before with any watch.

I noticed that with my wrist size the magnet clasp was closed on the strap almost right in the middle of my wrist where the median nerve runs. Because the strap is quite flexible and the magnet narrow I think what maybe happens is that when your wrist is resting on something the clasp can apply pressure to the nerve if it happens to close in just the right position (obviously with a bigger or smaller wrist it may be more to one side or the other).

It's a shame because the strap itself was very nice!

Here is a link explaining nickel allergy from the Mayo Clinic website:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/nickel-allergy/symptoms-causes/dxc -20267456

There are no external symptoms, only internal symptoms of pain. This is not a nickel allergy.

You didn't mention any external symptoms in your post.

If it is not nickel there is really nothing else on the back of the watch know to cause an allergic reaction. But since it is happening to all 3 of you it should make it a bit easier or an allergist to test.

It is not an allergy. I didn't mention any external symptoms because there aren't any. All of the symptoms I have are internal, which is pain. Pain in the muscle or tendons in my wrist, arm and hand. An allergy to any part of the watch would show up as a rash or peeling skin, etc. Again, there are no external problems. My skin looks perfect and smooth. The symptom I have is internal pain.

fallonstacy wrote:

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.

So, if I have a headache and my doctor can't figure out why, that means that no one else should go to the doctor if they have a headache? That makes absolutely no sense.

Odd...."STAY AWAY FROM SMARTPHONES AND WEARABLES"....because Apple made something that doesn't adjust well with everyone in the world....that seems funny, I've been using the iPhone since they first came out, and have also worn the garmin watch without any issues....BUT SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM ALL MODERN TECHNOLOGY....definitely going to take your advise....you seem to be a genius...lol.

I don't own an AppleWatch, but I am a student of medicine and a researcher in the biological sciences, and I can tell you that, especially if you aren't used to wearing a watch, there can be a temporary impedance in blood flow that happens until your body adapts. Over the course of the day, our bodies expand and contract according to our level of stress, hydration, core body temperature, pulse, and blood pressure change. This is completely natural. Give it some time, and try loosening the watch if it feels tighter toward the middle of the day.

That said, there is the possibility that your symptoms have nothing to do with the watch. Try going without the watch for a couple of days. If the symptoms persist, contact your doctor.

In some rare circumstances, someone's nervous system may have trouble interpreting the vibrations coming from the watch. It may take some time to adapt.

I hope this helps!

i am not wearing it too tight. i did not wear it for a few days when i was sick and i did not have the elbow and arm pain. i will try goong back to my nylon band (although my rose gold link band is much prettier) thanks for the response