Apple Watch causing wrist pain

Hello All,

I am following up to this thread to see if this tid bit can help anyone of you guys as well! Let me brief you guys in on my issue, I had severe pain on my wrists from wearing the AW3 for a day. I took the AW3 back to best buy and then I got an AW1 to try out... It hurt a TINY bit when I first put it on However, I did find relief and my solution was to turn off the heart rate sensor and fitness tracking as well as not having the band too tight! I realize that's not the main issue but... the AW1 is thinner because of the smaller / thinner heart rate sensor whereas for the AW3 it's thicker even if a little bit so, for me I noticed the notch on AW1 I was on s/m band and the fourth hole and for the AW3 a comfortable medium is the fifth hole! Please try this out too since I did notice a difference, maybe making new bands to accommodate folks pressure points would help a lot of people out! I'm going to look into the loops or ones where I can control the tightness. ( I hope that made sense) Anyway, to turn off the heart rate sensor and tracking :

go on the iPhone apple watch app -

Go to Privacy

turn off heart rate and fitness tracking.

This has worked for me and it's been a few days with the AW3. I still use the watch for it's other features and I tested this on the AW1 for a few days and then I still wanted the Aw3 so I purchased another one and did the same procedure and I am happy to report that I don't have any pain at all!

I hope this will provide some of you like myself, the ability to have and ENJOY the AW without pain.

I understand some folks really want the heart rate sensor and tracking on but if you have sensitivity to UV lights and just sensitivity to radiation then this could very well work for you since I am sensitive on both fronts. *please read my full story up above in this thread.

I really hope this helps at least one person!

I, too, think the wi-fi/IR hypothesis is pure bunk--if anything, IR would help ease, not cause wrist pain, since it's used in physiotherapy. Got my 38mm Series 2 back in June, worn w/a wide variety of bands, without incident (except inadvertently trigging Siri).

I've also had L lateral wrist pain wearing it for abt. 6 wks now, after breaking a fall with my outstretched hand. (Kids, don't try this at home). OK for a day or two, then stiffness, soreness, clicking/snapping and even metacarpal burning while late-night typing. (No visible swelling). Am a guitarist/dulcimerist, and it keeps me from gripping a guitar neck and making chords. Didn't try a brace, because not sure what kind to get. Went to walk-in ortho/sports med clinic, got X-rayed. Noticed symptoms much milder after removing the watch. No fractures or dislocation, but ortho doc says "TfCC" inflammation from a combo of the injury & a slightly-too-long ulna (bone along the outside of forearm). Radiologist noted arthritic changes--but on the thumb side (where it doesn't hurt). Ortho doc says too late to splint because that'd stiffen it more, so see if topical NSAID gel helps and get an MRI & cortisone shot in 6 wks if it doesn't.

Noticed this a.m. that I had no pain or stiffness until after wearing the watch for a minute or two. I bet it's the strap: an aftermarket leather one that is thicker & wider than the silicone and less flexy than the mesh (both Apple & aftermarket). I pushed the band higher up above the joint, which seems to help but still feels restrictive. Will go back to the orig. silicone strap and see if that's better.

Wish they made slimmer straps--or even the old "Twist-O-Flex" style.

You need to contact a doctor, not a representative of Apple.

I have turned the haptics off and for 3 weeks --no more wrist pain.

Hello,

I have owned my watch for over a month now and am not having any of the problems in this thread. As with all products, i.e., cosmetics, clothing, shoes (some costing well over $400), if they are causing discomfort in any way I would discontinue use and see about a refund. A trip to the doctor never hurts. I went in because of aforementioned shoes causing discomfort in my toes. It turns out I have arthritis and cannot wear certain shoes. Perhaps the watch is pressing on a nerve or magnifying an underlying medical issue.

I wish you good luck and hope you are able to solve this problem.

Try deactivating RX it’s what is used for heart rate. My wife had the same issue. So we turned off Rex and fitness to figure what was causing it. We turned fitness tracker back on and my wife does not have any more pain.

Hello All,

I just got my AW Series 3 yesterday 1-5-18 and I wore it on and off while setting it up and then the next day 1-6-18 for a few hours as I worked on some assignments. My wrist began to ache and my bones felt the what I think to be, radiation. I'm sensitive to it and I know this because I do not use UV lights when I do my nails in gel because I would get this same feeling on my hands and it was painful. My boyfriend got me the 3 thinking it would be a great fit but my god it hurt so badly that I kept trying to test it and see if it was just me or the watch. I have always worn solve watches my favorite being my 1989 seiko but when I left this one on it hurt so badly I even switched wrists to see if it would cause the same sensation and pain and it did, I only got some calm when I shut it off to see if it was the watch and It felt better, still ached but better. I would describe the pain as slow, tingling and somewhat constructing. It made my fingers were kinda locked up and the ache traveled from my wrist to a bit past my elbow.

This ***** but I'm honestly shocked that this is happening to a lot of folks! 😟 My brother has the AW1 and he has no issues, my boyfriend has the AW2 and no issues from that one either! One quick thing to note is that I tired BOTH AW1, AW2 before I got this one for about a day each and neither one caused me pain nor did I feel these weird vibrations, numbness or actual wrist pain like I felt with the AW3! I had my boyfriend try it out to see if it was just me going nuts or just maybe I wasn't "compatible" with my device as some folks have said on these forums but he started feeling numbness after using it for 10 minutes and he switched it to the other wrist and left it for 5 and it was occurring there too! My brother tried it when I saw him at home about an hour later, I didn't tell him anything other than it was hurting my wrist and I was going to return it and he tried it on, left it for about 2 minutes and felt the "vibration" and slight numbness spread from wrist to forearm. As I am writing this BOTH my wrists still ache and I haven't worn it for a good 6 hours!

My theory is that they made the AW3 so "MIGHTY" with the heartbeat sensor and all that it's too hardcore for some people that, or its a bad sensor or something but either way, I wish there was an ACTUAL response to our issues since I see that a lot of us are feeling the same thing! As for me, I'm going to return it tomorrow and try to find myself an AW2 or AW1! Good Luck guys, Hopefully you guys heal up soon too!!

I, too, am having wrist pain issues when wearing my new Apple Watch 3 (38mm with a Sport Band). My watch doesn't have the GPS feature and I use it primarily as a watch (read: I'm not using apps frequently). I've relatively sensitive skin, but the skin under the watch itself is fine. The pain is primarily on the inside (palm side) of the wrist. I had surgery to treat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (in both wrists) more than 10 yrs. ago, so I've been wondering if the pain was because the watch band was fastened too tight (compressing the nerve(s) in my wrist). Loosening the band may help somewhat, but doesn't eliminate the problem. I was wondering if the width of the watch and/or band is part of the problem. But then I checked these forums and realized that I'm clearly not the only person who's experiencing wrist pain (that radiates into the palm and up towards the elbow).

To help figure out what's going on, I encourage folks who continue this thread to clarify:

1. type of watch band worn (and whether changing it had an impact on symptoms)?;
2. prior history of wrist pain/joint problems?;
3. location of wrist pain (palm side?);
4. series of Apple Watch (1, 2 or 3)--did you experience pain with one series but not another? Which one?
5. watch + or - GPS?

I'm not going to wade into the whole WiFi "allergy" notion. Honestly, even if it's "a thing", I'm hard-pressed to understand why it'd cause joint pain--especially on the side of the joint opposite where the "radiation" would be emitted. (I.e., at least with me, the pain is predominantly on the inside of the wrist--on the other side from where the watch itself is strapped.)

My 1 has started doing it for the last few months and turning off the health monitoring reduces it, but i still have to change wrists and the pain moves with the watch, it appears to be caused by the monitoring!

Sent from my iPhone

halfadevil wrote:

Wait till you get it and then do some experiments of your own, until then you will need to trust the many people who are getting it that it is not from the band being tight.

I've had an Apple watch since the day they were released. I'm not suggesting that the band being too tight is the problem for everyone. For most people who are experiencing pain, the culprit is probably the convex back. Some people are more sensitive to that pressing against their wrist. It could be do to a normal variation in anatomy. Or, it could be do to something like carpal tunnel syndrome. Only a doctor could say for sure.

Haven't read all the replies yet - sorry. Just wanted to add that I had bad wrist and even elbow pain for the first few weeks, and then it went away. I think it's the repetitive motion of raising the watch - I haven't worn a watch in years, and remember conventional watches causing the same pain.

Now the pain is gone. Maybe the muscles got toughened up!

Rajsanta wrote:

Historically, people and industries have been in denial (for example, the tobacco industry denying the linkage to cancer). Time will tell if wearables have negative effects.

The tobacco industry denying that tobacco caused cancer is not really an apt analogy. Non-ionizing radiation has been studied independently of wearables (in fact, since before wearable was a word). So, read the actual science, not the marketing.

All I know is that, after a period of time, I can definitely sense the pain when I forget to turn on Airplane mode when wearing the Apple Watch.

However, unless you tested it in a situation where you didn't know if the watch was in Airplane mode or not, conformation bias is a very real possibility. Human brains are remarkably easy to fool. And pain perception can be affected by a large number of factors. Please understand, I'm not suggesting you're stupid. I'm saying the way the brains of our entire species are wired, it can be very easy to make us belief certain things and very hard for us to give up certain beliefs even in the face of very strong evidence.

I had the wrist pain issue with a Fitbit HR (which I stopped using). So this isn’t specific issue pertaining to the Apple Watch in my case.

There are some anecdotal reports about people whose anatomy is just enough different that the convex back of the watch presses against a nerve in their wrist. It's been a while since I closely examined an FitBit HR so, I can't postulate if there is possibly a similar mechanical explanation.

Yes, it is an issue for a doctor, actually... The sensor bubble is putting pressure on a nerve.

Turn off the heart rate Monitor. We did that and everything else worked fine.

mjmphillips wrote:

This is kind of big concern!

Yes, you should see your doctor as soon as possible.