Apple Watch causing wrist/hand numbness and tingling

There are several issues here with which I have, regrettably, had personal experience.

1) First and foremost: See a doctor! My beloved husband of 20 years was, to all appearances, incredibly healthy, slim, active - a runner and race-walker - with no signs of physical distress, normal blood pressure, ate right, didn't smoke or drink, etc., told all his life by doctors that he had the "heart of a 20-year old," even at age 55. Until one day he dropped dead on his way to work. I suggest that one should never assume oneself to be in perfect health if there are any symptoms which resemble in any way the symptoms of a heart attack.

2) Carpal tunnel and allergies: I have dealt with carpal tunnel in both wrists for years, and my early symptoms sounded very much like what you're describing (no I'm not a doctor and am not diagnosing, just sharing my own experience). In addition to the numbness and tingling you describe, I also had shoulder pain. I thought my doctor was nuts when he suggested that the shoulder pain could be caused by my wrists! Since that first diagnosis I've become aware of how much carpal tunnel can cause all kinds of weird hand, wrist and arm discomfort. I wear wrist braces when I sleep, and they've been an enormous help in reducing the symptoms, along with doing daily hand and wrist-strengthening, stretching and flexibility exercises.

I am also very careful to not wear my new Series 2 Sport too tight, and in the four weeks I've had it I've tried 4 different types of bands from third-party sellers in the quest for optimal comfort. The sensors on the underside of the watch don't need a tight fit to work. And since I also have allergy issues, the band material makes a huge difference. The Apple-brand Sport band isn't too irritating most of the time, but even when I wear it relatively loosely, the restricted air circulation can cause some itching, due to condensation that collects between the band and my skin (even though I've left on the factory plastic strip that covers the connector, to protect against nickel allergy). Alas, none of the commercially made bands are optimal for my needs, and so I've made my own band, using connectors that are readily available online, and using ultrasuede for one band, and heavy silk ribbon for the second, with Velcro for the closures.

I hope these observations are helpful to you. I love my Watch and even though I've only had it for four weeks, I can't imagine having to abandon it. Good luck!

What scientific or medical tests did you conduct to show that? Are you will to post the results here. Have you specifically seen your doctor and discussed the problem you are having with the Watch? Have you been allergy tested, specifically for nickel?

I wasn't having problems until the original pieced of plastic that covers the metal pin on the Sport band finally came off. I didn't think any more about until my wrist developed a persistent, annoying itch. Painting the skin side of the pin with clear nail polish fixed it!

As to the numbness and tingling others have felt, I'm wondering if some of this might be a cervical spine thing? I notice that I crane my neck just a bit differently and longer (and more frequently) than would be normal for a regular watch. That can put a cumulative strain on the neck and shoulder muscles, which can then result in pain in the shoulder, arm and wrist. I'd be interested in knowing what others think about that possibility.

tasa wrote:

I wasn't having problems until the original pieced of plastic that covers the metal pin on the Sport band finally came off. I didn't think any more about until my wrist developed a persistent, annoying itch. Painting the skin side of the pin with clear nail polish fixed it!

Some people are extremely sensitive to nickel. Glad you figured out how to resolve it!

As to the numbness and tingling others have felt, I'm wondering if some of this might be a cervical spine thing? I notice that I crane my neck just a bit differently and longer (and more frequently) than would be normal for a regular watch. That can put a cumulative strain on the neck and shoulder muscles, which can then result in pain in the shoulder, arm and wrist. I'd be interested in knowing what others think about that possibility.

It's a very reasonable theory. However, unless the people giving opinions are doctors (or who have been so diagnosed by their doctors), it would be pure speculation. If people are having severe pain, they need to see a doctor.

Best of luck.

I am having some of the same issues. However, it is not the first time that I have felt this and I was worried about spending that much money on a watch when I kind of expected the pain to come back because of it. I experienced this first with a Fitbit and then again with a cheap watch with the timer and alarm (digital) and now with my new Apple Watch.

When I experienced it with my Fitbit, I went and saw several doctors to try to figure out what was causing the pains. I even went to a neurologist and he sent me for an MRI. No one, not even one of those many doctors figured out that it was my Fitbit. I didn't either until I started to limit everything that I wore. Once I stopped wearing my Fitbit, the pain went away after a few days.

Now, the pain is back and I will be sadly attempting to return or sell my new watch.

No, it isn't and no your test doesn't prove anything since it is a sample of one. It you are wearing your Watch too tight or in a place that presses on a nerve on both wrists then it will hurt on both wrists. When you stop it will stop hurting. Write back after you go to a real doctor and ask them for a diagnosis.

Did you ask your doctor if it was something from the Watch that was causing you to have a medical issue? And what is it that you think is causing it? Radiation? Electricity? Magnetism?

And no it is not a mini computer. There are also people who post that aliens are watching and brainwashing them. I don't believe those posts either.

You have not had carpal tunnel syndrome but you know the symptoms? So is the magnetism from the Watch causing you to have carpal tunnel syndrome? You've worn the watch, gotten the symptoms, gone to your doctor and he has done tests to show it is that? Or some other inflammation? What does show up when you have the issue?

It isn't going to be magnetism (not enough magnetism in the watch to cause anything and it is not going to be the non-ionizing radiation that the transmitters in the Watch puts out. So what does this leave? Nothing. Sounds to be like it sits on the wrong spot where you wear it and presses on a nerve.

Hänsel wrote:

As such, there is no doubt: the cause is the Watch and probably a combination of its electronic activity and wireless signals, constantly happening while in direct contact with my skin. As I have seen enough examples of other people experiencing the same discomfort on the Apple forums and elsewhere, it seems to me that 1) either there is a certain number of Watches, all with a similar issue which causes some kind of 'leaking' of too much harmful electromagnetic radiation or simply electric current of some kind or 2) I just happen to be one of a fair number of people who are highly sensitive to electronic activity this close to their skin.

Yes, there's actually a lot of doubt. Just because you think that's what's causing the problem doesn't mean it is. The watch is not capable of generating any electromagnetic frequencies that are harmful to humans.

When I am on the phone with someone for a long while and thus hold my phone near my cheek for said long while, my skin starts turning slightly red and warm. This too strikes me as a connection between its wireless signals and distance to skin.

But I admit that this and what I experience with the Watch might be completely unrelated. This doesn’t make my point any less important to make, as the sensation I had felt truly bad and was the same feeling you get when in touch with light electronic currents. The relation between putting it on and experiencing the numbing was clear. It might not have been the wireless signals, that is just what I fear. It might just as well simply be the metal transferring some unwanted current to my skin. But when I said there is no doubt, I did not refer to the wireless signals, but to the fact that the Watch is, sadly for me and some other people, the cause.

Please allow those who have this tingling/numbing to voice their worries and refrain from overly defending the Watch (which I.d otherwise really love to keep!) just because you’re part of the (lucky) majority who experience no such harm, as it will probably prevent Apple from taking this matter seriously.

Well I can bet if you hold any mobile you can feel the radiation too, you probably have not noticed it.

Hold your phone and get someone to text you and you will feel the tingling sensation start in you hand before you even received the text, and yes not everyone one can feel it.

Lwales wrote:

Well I can bet if you hold any mobile you can feel the radiation too, you probably have not noticed it.

Hold your phone and get someone to text you and you will feel the tingling sensation start in you hand before you even received the text, and yes not everyone one can feel it.

That's what we call confirmation bias. The only way to really test if you can feel it would be if you were blindfolded and the phone had sound and vibration turned off. Then, have a friend do a series of trials. Half the time they do send you a text, half the time, they only pretend to. Can you tell the difference a statistically significant number of times?

I'll give you a hint. These studies have already been done and people can't tell. Here's some examples:

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.543.1328&rep=rep1&type= pdf

IEI-EMF provocation case studies: A novel approach to testing sensitive individuals. - PubMed - NCBI

Even though I’ve not looked but I’m sure you can find proof for and against, I’m only going by experience

Can I add this isn’t a topic wheather phones are good or bad for you, this is about if it’s possible for a person to be affected by any kind of tech radiation, and yes it can.

You do understand why that is don’t you?

The only way I would say to anyone who suffers with the issues while wearing the Apple Watch is to still wear it but put it into flight mode for a few days and report back to us.

Why is that?

No, that is still not a scientific test. And are you going to include the GPS + Cellular Watch? It didn't exist when this thread started. So all the Watch used was non-ionizing radiation from WiFi and Bluetooth. There have been many studies done on the effect of this, Idris was nice enough to give you one. None of them have found any biological impact. None.