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An atmosphere of nervous excitement. I can see the frosty air coming from my fellow runners as they do the "about to run" shuffle on the starting line.

A rapid movement of the hips.

I'm participating in my local 5km community parkrun and I mean business. It's almost time...

Wait a second. I have to sort my device. The same goes for the guy alongside me.

The person in the line sighs. I won't start until… done! Signal acquired, and I'm running.

Amidst the crowd, it's hard to see a arm without a wearable on it. And this extends beyond us athletes who use them.

We're witnessing a explosive, multi-billion pound industry. Brands like Garmin are prevalent, all offering an broad array of various models to suit a range of budgets. Based on how feature-packed the watch you select, price tags can vary between a hundred pounds to a small fortune.

"I find it infuriating, I can't switch off."

"It provides solace… It feels like a companion guiding me."

"Stop telling me about a restless night."

A handful of the comments I've received from like-minded device users when I ask what they their opinion is on theirs.

A Sea of Statistics

My current opinion on mine? Right now, frustrating. It's indicating I'm off pace, causing me to question whether the overhead branches I'm passing under are disrupting my location tracking.

Millions of us fasten these small monitors onto our arms and wear them 24/7, apparently comfortable with the fact they're constantly tracking us.

A distant memory are the days when we used them only to give us an idea of our pedometer reading. Currently, they can measure our sleep patterns, heart rate, oxygen saturation, our recovery score.

It's difficult to find a health indicator they fail to monitor.

But do they do what they claim to do? And are the numbers we analyse a faithful picture of reality? Do they improve our mental and physical wellbeing, or do the plethora of readings and cheerleading alerts just add to our sense of overwhelm?

A Complicated Bond

"I find myself getting a bit obsessed with mine," an individual reveals.

While she appreciates how her device records her workouts, she finds some of its other capabilities "excessive" at times - a feeling that became apparent during a pregnancy.

Before she realised she could put it into a specific mode, her smartwatch repeatedly informed her she was being insufficiently active enough. Later on, the watch keeps telling her she's had a poor sleep score.

"I am caring for a six-month old, it's unnecessary for me to be notified my sleep was poor," she says. "I'm acutely aware all too clearly."

Why doesn't she just take it off?

"I suppose I could, theoretically, but I'm in this complicated dynamic with it," she continues. "I love it for its fitness insights, but I'm unsure whether all the other things it can now do is perhaps too much for me."

How Do They Work?

Each model of smartwatch has its own unique way of monitoring your bodily functions and interpreting your data, but the vast bulk use detectors on the back of the watch.

They commonly emit tiny, coloured LED lights onto your arm which can detect capillary action, detecting your BPM. Sophisticated devices analyse changes in the bioimpedance that passes over the skin to assess your recovery state.

The Professional Viewpoint

One expert says that for most people for smartwatches, it's a "delicate equilibrium" - while the ever-evolving tech could potentially save lives, "spotting abnormalities before we feel unwell", it could also turn us watch wearers into the "concerned but fine".

He points out that some of the latest wearables can conduct tests like medical-grade monitoring, which continuously monitor how normal the heart is. They can flag if someone is experiencing a heart arrhythmia, where there is irregular signals in the heart causing an irregular heartbeat.

This does not mean someone is imminently going to suffer a heart attack, but it can give an preliminary indication they might be more at risk of a blood clot in the long term.

But how to interpret these numbers is complex. The expert concerns that as more functions are incorporated, people may struggle to fully comprehend their data.

"I'm not entirely convinced that being able to monitor so many metrics is such a positive development," he says.

A clinical psychologist specialising in patient behaviour echoes this sentiment. Research into the impact of wearable tech on a set of heart condition patients suggested a minority of those who were given devices to monitor their heart health experienced greater stress and were "far more likely to use healthcare resources".

She noted a pattern with her patients - they noticed a alarming metric on their watch. They felt anxious. Their pulse went up. They got increasingly anxious. They looked a second time, and their anxiety increased again.

"Upon viewing data about ourselves that we lack context for then, naturally, we are going to become concerned," the psychologist says. "We check, we re-check - it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."