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Anyone worry about contact dermatitis from wearing Watch too long?
- Thread starter msackey
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I'm sure that's true many times, but for me I was using a brand new Apple sport loop band. The problem kept persisting until I switched to a metal band and it went away.
even if they know, they don’t care and choose to ignore. That’s how apple do business nowadays. Same with pwm screen issue for people sensitive to LED flicker.
To be fair, they cannot cater to absolutely everybody. At some point you have to say "Yep, that's the lion's share of the market".
Not contact dermatitis, but I had a strange neurological reaction with my Apple Watch 6. My wrist would throb from a deep internal pain, and I actually had to stop wearing my AW6 for awhile. As near as I can tell, the electrical impulses from the back of the watch caused some sort of reaction with my nerves and over time, my wrist then radiating up my arm throbbed until I took the watch off for a few days. The pain always came back a day or two after I would put it back on. I’m a watch wearer, and during these times I wore one of my mechanical watches and my wrist was fine. So far I haven’t had any issue with the Ultra.
I get contact dermatitis from elastic socks. My feet break out and get itchy and red if i don’t use low/zero elastic socks. I don’t notice any such issues with the Sport band or any other of the silicone based ones.
It may depend on the contact, but I’ve been calling and messaging mine while wearing my Watch without any issues with dermatitis.
well the thing is these aren’t niche issues. the problem is apple, just like any other company, puts profits and marketing before function and design, but pretend to be very virtuous. granted they do better than other companies, they could do so much more.
just to stay on topic, regarding bands, their narrative about having done hours of testing is such bs. synthetics are the top contact allergen in dermatology. plastics are dirt cheap compared natural materials like wool, linen, and cotton. apple charges $50 for a plastic band that costs them less than 50¢ to make. a wool band would probably cost them under $5 to make. so profit margin dictates their decision and marketing angle.
I’ve had skin irritation under the watch part but it went away. I think I stopped wearing it for a few days. Perhaps it was caused by sweat but I don’t know. When I get out of the shower I wait to put it on. If I put the watch on right away, the moisture just bugs me, I can feel it. Maybe that’s just all in my head but it’s what I do. 😂
Not niche? What percentage of the population has a reaction to all Apple Watch bands?
The second part of your post addresses economics. Apple is a for-profit organization. They make watches in order to make money. Just like cheetahs kill antelopes. Maybe there is an opportunity for not-for-profit watch bands. I’m really not sure.
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I do, a little. It's not a problem for me, there's just a low-level tingling sensation. But that's why I swap wrists often -- when one wrist gets tired of the tingling, I swap to the other.
I've had issues with the silicon band. Metal and the sport loop seem to be fine.
Visible light is an electromagnetic radiation as are other forms of light like x-rays and UV.
No argument from me regarding the outrageous costs of these bands. Charging $50 for essentially a velcro strap (e.g., sports loop) or $100 for a rubber-like strap (e.g., ocean band) is pretty outrageous. (Ah yet...I still ordered a band from them. SMH. LOL on me.)
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Well that’s certainly true. EMR is everywhere, absolutely everywhere. But the output of the watch sensor is not anything close even to sunlight. If you have problems with sunlight then it’s not something you’re going to suddenly discover via the Apple watch LEDs. But sure, extreme photosensitivity does exist.
The electrical contact is the crown.
A far more likely scenario is discomfort from the Watch being too tight. Typically people wear mechanical watches looser because there is no need to worry about the sensors on the back (which obviously have trouble with movement). So going from a mechanical (and looser) watch to a tighter smartwatch (especially with That curved back) could apply a different pressure to the wrist. That’s a real physical phenomenon that has been shown to impact people.
Anything we can think of, there is someone who will have, or claim to have, some sort of reaction to it. Anything at all. There are people who claim an allergy to wifi (also EMR).
I’d look at the more likely scenarios first though and photosensitivity to the LEDs on the watch just isn’t likely.
I am not wearing the watch too tight… being a watch person, I think I know the distinction. The pain I feel is not a pressure pain, but rather a sort of electo-neural pain. I have awoken to my wrist actually twitching like when using a TENS Unit.
Honestly, I don’t feel this would be a relatable experience for you unless it has actually happened to you. I know I am not the only one this has happened to because I have seen it pop up in Apple discussions from time to time.
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I had it once before, just make sure you keep your wrist dry, don’t shower with the watch on, and ensure no soap remains after washing hands etc. Also, ensure the watch isn’t too tight.
I think I’m going to try wearing my Watch on the other wrist when I sleep. That’ll give my left wrist a chance to breathe
