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A sense of building tension. I can see the chilled vapour exhaled by my competitors as they do the "starting line" jiggle on the starting line.

A swift movement of the hips.

I'm lined up for my local 5km community parkrun and I'm serious. Three, two, one...

Hold on. I must start my tracker. As does the runner alongside me.

The person in the line sighs. I refuse to go until… there! Signal acquired, away I go.

Amidst the crowd, it's difficult to see a wrist without a wearable on it. And this isn't only us athletes who rely on them.

This is a thriving, multi-billion dollar market. Brands like Samsung Galaxy dominate, each with an extensive array of diverse devices to cater to a spectrum of needs. Based on how high tech the model you choose, price tags can start from a hundred pounds to thousands of pounds.

"I find it infuriating, it's impossible to switch off."

"It provides solace… It acts as a supporter guiding me."

"Stop telling me I've had a bad night's sleep."

A small sample of the reactions I've received from fellow device users when I inquire what they think of theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My current opinion on my own device? At this moment, annoying. It's reporting I'm not hitting my target, causing me to question whether the foliage I'm running below are blocking my GPS connection.

Countless individuals of us attach these little gadgets onto our arms and wear them all day and night, apparently unconcerned with the fact they're continuously monitoring us.

A distant memory are the days when we used them solely to give us an estimation of our pedometer reading. Now, they can track our sleep quality, stress levels, heart rate variability (HRV), our VO2 max.

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

But can they do what they claim to do? And are the statistics we obsess over a true reflection of the truth? Do they boost our mental and physical wellbeing, or do the avalanche of readings and constant notifications just increase our everyday anxiety?

A Complicated Bond

"I do get a a little fixated with mine," a wearer admits.

While she appreciates how her device tracks her runs, she finds some of its other capabilities "excessive" at times - a feeling first discovered during a pregnancy.

Until she found out she could put it into a specific mode, her smartwatch kept telling her she was being insufficiently energetic enough. Later on, the watch frequently reports her she's had a bad night's sleep.

"I have a six-month old, it's unnecessary for me to be told I'm tired," she says. "I know that perfectly well."

Why doesn't she just remove it?

"I could, perhaps, but I have this love-hate relationship with it," she continues. "I love it for its workout tracking, I just wonder whether the myriad other functions it can now do is possibly too much for me."

How Do They Work?

Every device of smartwatch has its own unique way of measuring your bodily functions and processing your data, but the most use detectors on the underside of the watch.

They usually project small, green LED lights onto your skin which can detect pulsation, recording your heartbeat. More advanced devices detect changes in the electrical current that passes over the skin to get an idea of your stress levels.

The Professional Viewpoint

A professor says that overall for smartwatches, it's a "delicate equilibrium" - while the continuously improving tech could potentially save lives, "spotting abnormalities before we notice anything", it could also turn us the tracked into the "worried well".

He points out that the most advanced wearables can carry out tests like medical-grade monitoring, which regularly monitor how healthy the heart is. They can flag if someone is experiencing atrial fibrillation (AF), where there is erratic impulses in the heart causing an arrhythmia.

This does not necessarily indicate someone is imminently going to suffer a cardiac event, but it can give an preliminary indication they might be more at risk of a stroke in the future.

But how to understand these readings is not straightforward. The expert worries that as additional features are added, people may not be able to fully comprehend their data.

"I'm not entirely convinced that being able to monitor so many things is such a good idea," he says.

A professor focusing on patient behaviour echoes this sentiment. A study into the impact of wearable tech on a specific group of individuals with health issues suggested a minority of those who were given devices to monitor their heart health experienced greater stress and were "more inclined to use doctor's time".

She noted a vicious circle with her patients - they noticed a concerning reading on their watch. They grew concerned. Their BPM went up. They got even more concerned. They looked a second time, and their reading rose further.

"Upon viewing stats about ourselves that we don't really understand then, of course, we are going to become concerned," the psychologist says. "We monitor, we re-check - it becomes a feedback loop."