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Comment by mhalle | Hacker News Reader

On a related topic, I find programming or typing while wearing a watch leads relatively quickly to wrist pain due to the pressure constraints it puts on the muscles and tendons.

I have tried several different watches and experienced this problem. I know many tech industry people wear watches while they work, but I have never heard a discussion of this condition. I wonder if I am somehow unusual in this situation. I am otherwise not especially prone to repetitive stress injuries.

It has been bad enough I have thought of converting a wristwatch into a modern pocket watch, though I would lose any feature that depended on skin proximity.

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How large of a watch are you using? How tight do you wear it? How much do you weight?

I've worn larger watches in the past. Now I wear a pretty small watch or an apple watch, that is also smallish, and I dont have any issues. I tend to wear my watches quite loose so they rest beyond the rim of the laptop I type on.

Where do you wear a watch? Over your wrist joint or higher up your forearm?

I like to wear my watch a few cm higher up my arm, so that the metal band doesn’t scratch my laptop.

If you want features that need skin contact, you could keep a nice watch as a pocket watch, and then wear a cheap fitness band on your ankle.

> cheap fitness band on your ankle

This is a cool idea. I hadn't really toyed with the idea of my watch living anywhere but my wrist.

Like the GP, I have to remove mine a lot for computer sessions, as a heavy keyboard user.

I'm really fatigued by all the stuff I have to carry each day. I think the watch is often the best bang for the buck. Pretty small, rarely in the way, lots of utility.

I don't care about the health tracking, so the ankle isn't an option, but I'm going to think about other ways I can use my (Galaxy) watch.

  > I think the watch is often the best bang for the buck. Pretty small, rarely in the way, lots of utility.

What does the watch provide that a smartphone does not? Presuming that you already have a smartphone.

Nothing--duplicate functionality on my wrist. That's useful for me a lot: motorcycling, fishing, kayaking when I want my phone in a dry bag, silent notifications.

The ease of accessing a voice assistant is nice--I double click a watch button to set reminders/timers/alarms. It's a shame the VA is bixby, but mostly it gets the job done.

You've answered far more of my questions than you know! I appreciate the answer - and am now contemplating a smart watch. I'd want something tiny, and waterproof, with an analogue face.

Thank you.

Data point: I wear a watch every day and have never experienced this.

Seconded

Same, I only pull it off when i feel it scratching a palm rest.

Smaller watches, with nylon, silicone, or leather straps help. Big metal bracelet watches always feel in the way.

FWIW mine has a titanium bracelet.

May have to do with posture or body alignment, less than the watch.

My data point: much like GP, I experience discomfort if I wear my (smart/big) watch while programming. Also if I wear a small watch too tightly.

I get a sensation in my pinky that's a lot like what you feel with a pinched nerve.

I just take the watch off if I'm going to be using the keyboard for any period of time. Gaming especially bothers it.

Notably, I rest my left wrist on the laptop body underneath the keyboard area. If I kept my wrists perched in the air, I doubt I would have any of this going on at all.

I feel the same. I can type/game for like 10+ hours straight and not feel a thing. If I wear a watch my hand/wrist becomes to feel uncomfortable within fifteen minutes. It may be due to poor hand posture relative to the height of my desk but I'm not sure.

That is why for years used a pocket watch. No pain, just wind it every day, when it breaks send someone to Malaysia to get another "genuine imitation" of whatever big brand. I was thinking about finding a quality make from a genuine brand when the G1 android came out, and it turns out a smart phone in my pocket does everything I need from a watch and so much more.

Username, pocket watch, I can tell we're friends we just dont know it yet. What model watch are you currently carrying? I know you said they're imitation, but still curious.

It was a Ferrari logo on it. No other documentation or model number, so I can't answer your question. Those who know what the Ferrari logo is supposed to look like can tell it is wrong at 3 meters.

Wristwatches were invented because constantly pulling it out from a pocket is cumbersome and needs a free hand. And at least I don't carry my phone everywhere. If you are fine with a smartphone then that's great, but for me the only true wristwatch replacement would be normal-looking smartglasses that actually aren't too smart and have a long battery life. Or in other words, there is no replacement.

Wrist watches are very uncomfortable (to me), and so the no an option. If it works for you great.

Not trying to correct, just to be helpful:

I find personally that some watches are extremely uncomfortable, and some I barely feel.

The small, thin watches that don't get hung up on clothing etc work well for me. Timex weekender, and Casio F91W-1. Of course, they have pretty limited utility. Time & alarm.

All the bigger, nicer watches I've tried are uncomfortable, and that's coming from someone who wears a watch basically every day.

Bands can matter a lot, as well. I have a very small "tightness" range where it's tight enough not to slide around, but not so tight that it hurts at all. The bands with a bunch of holes in them sometimes don't have a hole where I need it.

So, I think this is one of those things where YMMV is very much true. That said, I have a lot of wrist/thumb issues and am heavily invested in ergonomics to mitigate said issues and prevent them from worsening. I also wear a large watch every day while using a computer, and I experienced at times exactly what you're referring to.

Ultimately, it came down to the band. The only bands I found that would not cause issues were bands like the milanese loop for the Apple Watch, the trail band for the Apple Watch Ultra, or similar designs, where these bands have flexibility and are capable of sliding/slipping in a controlled fashion to "self-adjust".

The issue with other watch bands type like a typical plastic sports band or metal link bracelet, are that they have no flexibility. What happens is that when your wrist flexes and the band doesn't give way, is that it creates pressure on the tendons and you can end up getting a form of RSI. Much more flexible bands give way and allow your watch to adjust over time to the position of where your hands need to be for typing. When using a milanese loop style band I even noticed I would need to tighten it again when I'd stand up to walk around as it'd be a bit loose, and it'd hold its position until I sat to type again. That it's significant enough to be noticeable is indicative that it's quite a lot of required flexibility.

Rather than giving up on wearing a watch, I'd recommend you spend some time trying different bands and look for flexible bands.

I made a custom wood and leather wrist rest for exactly this. It’s fairly tall and has a soft curve at the corner opposite the keyboard. The heel of my hand rests on the curve. Watchband touches nothing. I modeled it after the keyb and wrist rest on an X220 and its predecessors. Going on at least 15 pain-free years post blowout.

pictures please! :)

I will try to get to it tomorrow.

Literally:

  - found a stick of pine that was the right thickness (3/4")
  - cut off a chunk a bit wider than the alpha keys (~12")
  - measured the distance from the keys to the edge of the X220 wrist rest (3")
  - took off 1/8" for border of the keyboard frame, ymmv
  - approximated the curve with a rasp and sandpaper
  - after a week or so, Elmer's glued a sheet of soft leather over the whole thing

My current keyboard is a Filco Majestouch 2, but I originally made it for a cheaper Magicforce, very similar geometry. It's too tall for the NuPhy Air60. I'd say the thickness works out fine when the top of the wrist rest is about 1/8" above the bottom of the first row of keys.

Padding isn't really necessary. Laptops don't have it, and there are plenty of wooden wrist rests out there. It's the geometry that matters. That said, soft leather is nice. Neoprene could work, but it gets gross.

I want to second the request for a picture. I think this would solve my watch/keyboard problems.

Thank you!

Same here. The watch part of my wrist normally wrests on the bottom edge of my Macbook, so I end up lifting my wrist slightly to avoid the band from scratching, which then leads to pain. I've found some luck from wearing long sleeves that cover my watch so that I don't have to worry about the scratching issue.

I just add an extra link to the watch band and slide it up my arm a little bit when coding.

I don’t get wrist pain, but that’s probably because I find it so uncomfortable I always take my watch off whenever my hands approach a keyboard. I haven’t really experienced carpal tunnel myself yet, but literally every single person I’m physically related to gets it by their 40s so maybe it’s related to that somehow?

> I know many tech industry people wear watches while they work, but I have never heard a discussion of this condition.

I regularly (one day out of every two?) wear a relatively heavy mechanical watch while working. 127 grams I think. I don't have more issues to my left hand than my right hand has ; )

You wear your watch on your right hand?

Are you left handed? I guess that might be significant for RSI type injuries

I wear my watches on either hand, depends on what the mood takes me. I've never understood why I should always wear it on the left hand just because I am right handed - my grandfather would balk at such a thing :D is it just because using the same hand you wear your watch on for everything might make it more likely to bash something with it?

(shrug)

I also wear my watches on my right hand, and I’m ambidextrous. Use keyboard and mouse as right handed people, but write with left.

Both of my hands are as healthy as it gets.

I wear my watch on my right hand, I’m ambidextrous. It’s always the side that’s felt proper, even though I write right-handed.

I am pretty sure this happens to me too.

It’s not that I feel the watch causing pain _directly_, like a lot of replies here seem to assume, it’s that if I wear one regularly for more than a couple of weeks, it aggravates my existing tendency to develop pain in my wrists.

I looked for the lightest watch I could find ( at the time a pebble 2 SE ) , and used a Eulit Palma Pacific watch band on it - basically a light airy woven material compared to the silicon junk smart watches come with.

I have to take it off when typing on a laptop, but I try to avoid that whenever possible.

It's one reason why I wish for a laptop with the touchpad next to the screen and the keyboard next to the edge.

I feel it when I'm at a keyboard with no wrist rest, but having my palms raised a couple of centimetres means my watch strap isn't in contact with the desk at all.

This is one of the big reasons I don't wear a watch or bracelet, although I suspect it may be related to wrist shape since others don't seem to have this issue.

I only type a moderate amount, but I don't find that my watch is putting any pressure on my wrist. If I feel pressure I typically immediately loosen it a notch.

It might depend on bracelet material and fit. For instance BluShark makes a "Pajama strap" which is very extensible.

I think it may hinge on whether you use wrist pads. I use them and definitely can't wear a watch when I work.

Suggestion. You could wear a time piece around your neck like Flavor Flav.

Have you tried using a wrist pad?

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