Is my Apple Watch Making an Indent on my Wrist?
I've been wearing an Apple Watch since they came out in April of 2015. I've been aware that there is a small "divot" where my watch sits, but I hadn't given it much thought until lately. I expect my non-dominant wrist (where my watch sits) to be a touch smaller, however this is more like an Apple-Watch-shaped indent on the top of my wrist where the watch hardware sits.
I did some research on the shrinkage because I was slightly concerned (is this muscle wasting?) But, I'm happy to report that this is a common occurrence wearing watches and wedding rings (as discussed on this forum thread, this Reddit thread, and this watch forum thread). I can confirm after noticing my watch indent and reading more about it, I noticed that I have slight indents for my wedding ring and my Oura ring as well.
Many people on those threads say they're not fastening their watch too tightly, but for my self, I don't doubt that I was over-tightening mine in an effort to make sure the watch feels secure. What I've done now is switch to a properly-sized elastic loop band, so that the watch feels secure, but I can't change/control/overtighten it. I want to make sure I emphasize the "properly-sized" in that previous sentence; get a band that feels secure but doesn't leave a bunch of mush-marks where your watch was. I got these two bands from Amazon as an experiment:
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This pretty cheap stretchy nylon band: ENJINER Stretchy Nylon Solo Loop Bands. The band runs a bit small. My wrist measurement was on the border between two sizes and I definitely should have sized up. But it's cheap enough to experiment with the sizing and fail (or return it) at least once. It also comes in a lot of color choices.
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This mid-range stretch woven elastic band :Tefeca Elastic Compatible/Replacement Band for Apple Watch/Apple Watch Ultra. This band runs truer to size. My wrist measurement fell into the middle of the ranges for the Tefeca band, and it fits snugly without leaving very much indent on either wrist after a day of wearing it. There's a handful of pattern and color choices for this style as well at the time of this writing.
Three good things I've noticed about wearing the elastic Apple Watch band for my wrist indent issue:
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Switching which wrist I wear my Apple Watch on doesn't require me to remove and flip around the band (only switch the Orientation setting on the Apple Watch), so I've been more likely to switch wrists when I think about it.
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My watch fits snugly and I'm taken completely out of the loop (pun not intended) on how tight my watch is fastened. This is good, because I definitely have a tendency to ratchet up the tightness on my previous nylon Apple Sport Loop.
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I have sensitive and skin and am easily irritated by scratchy fabrics. I can stand to wear both bands. (The Tefeca elastic band is fantastic. I "notice" the nylon ENJINER band more but it's not so annoying that it's a problem.)