Allergic to AirPod Pro eartips

Posting here so I can log my experience with the AirPod Pro ear tips. I’ve had mine for a year and never had an issue until I wore them for an extended period in warmer weather and my GP found I had a condition akin to Swimmer’s Ear (Otitis Externa). I have a steroid ear drop to flush my ears and help balance them out which has worked for a while. I have cleaned my APP thoroughly, even going as far as to wipe them down with a safe disinfectant solution to counteract any nasties that may be still present.

I had a break from them for a few weeks and my ears were fine. Wore them for over an hour yesterday and I’ve woken up to a lot of drainage this morning overnight.

Yes, after about a month or two, I noticed some drainage coming from my ears. It was clear and odorless. I didn't make the connection at first, but after some time and eliminating all other possibilities, I can say it happens after using my AirPods pros. I'm so bummed out about this because I love them. My ears will also itch like crazy after some time as well as some crusty nastiness appears in my ears as well. I just ordered some foam tips, and hopefully, this will solve the problem. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one, and I hope apple fixes this issue because while I love the AirPod max headphones, they are ridiculously expensive and obnoxiously large.

I picked up the Beats studio buds at Costco and they don’t seem to bother me (much). They are actually $30 off til 4/3/22 through Costco ($120). I picked these up because the Beats Fit Pro were not available in-store. I think I would like the ear hook because some of the irritation is from the actual tip putting pressure in my ear, and I don’t think they’ve fully healed or become desensitized after my numerous bouts of reaction to the APP. They get a little itchy, but not weepy and inflamed like what happens after 30 mins in the APP. Only issue I see is they have a more underwater sound even in transparency mode, and a louder ambient noise hiss (otherwise they sound great). I may pick up the Beats Fit Pro another time, maybe they will go on sale sometime too 😁

For the record though, for those of you who find this thread and haven’t been following along, I already have a nickel allergy, and the APP didn’t really bother me at first, but did over time. Now I use them for 15 mins and I’m itching later. I even got those silicone earbud cover/hook and swapped out the tip for a foam one and still had problems. Who’s to say what’s in those cheap Chinese accessories too.

I spoke with an apple consultant and he told me the air pod tips aren’t silicone, but they are rubber. I am not allergic to silicone but I am to rubber. I have tried replacement tips for my airpods pro but I still have a reaction. I ended up just pulling the rubber tips off and I’m using them without the rubber tips. So far, this is working well! Hope this helps somebody, good luck!

YES! I have the same issues with the eartips of the AirPod Pro. I did go to the ear doctor about it. It was definitely a contact dermatitis. This renders the close to $300.00 equipment useless. Apple, or someone needs to make hypoallergenic eartips for the AirPod Pro. I use my Bose sport buds, with no problem.

Experiencing the same problem. After use of AirPod Pros for 5 minutes, my ears start to itch and get infected. Takes about a week to recover.

I can use any other earbuds I have without no problems for hours a day. It is only the Apple AirPods that cause instantaneous issues. I've googled this and it seems a fairly common problem with the Apple EarPod tips.

Can users replace the tips with different tips that are made of material that is more friendly to human skin? There is something seriously wrong with the material that Apple provides for people like me.

@philmehew @Earl_Less:

Exposed one AirPod to 2 days of daylight + artificial light; kept the other one in its box.

Unfortunately both my ears responded similarly and quite intensely to wearing the pods. I think it's safe to conclude that the light exposure doesn't help me. Next is switching the silicone tips but I need to wait a week before my ears are 'normal' again :-(

I wouldn't be surprised if Apple managed to put two allergens in the buds (one related to the body, perhaps acrylates, and a second one related to the silicone tip).

I suspect what’s made this so difficult to solve is some people reacting to the buds, some to the stem and some to both.

My experience was that I initially changed the tips for foam ones and still got a reaction.

I then saw someone mention light treatment on the stem, so I put under bright lights for 2 hours, turned them and gave another 2 hours, then thoroughly cleans the stems and the case.

So with light treated stems and foam buds, so far I’ve had no further problems and my confidence in that is growing with each subsequent use.

So, I have had this exact issue and after some “trials”, I can confidently confirm that something with the airpod pro’s tips were not agreeing with me. When the airpod gen 3 came out, I took a gamble I’m giving them a go and did not have any issues. To further evaluate the market, I have a few pairs of Jaybirds, including the Vista and have had no irritations with them.

I have even tried the Nothing Ear 1 and have had no issues with those silicon tips. One thing. Have not tried with the airpod pro that some here have confirmed was using the comply foam tips… I do love the airpod pro, but it don’t love me.

good luck!

Ok, after use on/off and trying different tips, I’ve think I’ve figured out what causes it for me. It’s an allergic reaction to sweat. AirPods Pro have a much tighter seal than my other earbuds, and so there’s no ventilation for the sweat to dry off. If I wear the AirPods Pro loosely nothing happens (but the ANC blows). Also the itchiness starts much earlier when working out. Will probably be buying AirPods 3 for working out and leaving the Pros for short use (e.g. commuting).

After reading this, I am now convinced it is my Airpods Pro that is messing with my ears. I have had multiple ear infections in the last 6 months. The itching in my ears was insane and I even asked my doctor about it and see wrote it off as allergies. I stopped using my Airpods Pro, even though I love them. I cannot deal with the issues it creates. I am thinking of going back to the regular Airpods 3rd gen. I never had issues with the original ones. But now I am scared to put anything in my ears.

I tried the Skokz Open Ear but they are really big for my head and do not line up properly. Has there been any other ones you have tried that you don't have these symptoms with?

The foam tips mentioned in this thread have worked wonders for me. I had the same symptoms described above (including jaw pain!), but now wear the AirPods Pro for hours every day without any discomfort at all.

These are the ones I have, but there are several similar options:

https://amzn.to/3FIgms0

Good luck!

I am having the same issue over the past year. Multiple ear infections, ear discharge, and crusting. Now that I see so many other people having the same issue here, I’m realizing that this has been cause by the AirPod pros. It appears to be from the silicone tips as I did not have this issue with the first AirPods that were released. I am thinking about downgrading to a non-pro version again. I wish Apple would take some sort of corrective action.

Servitoare wrote:

but it is definitely an allergic reaction.

The solution is to stop exposing yourself to the thing you're allergic to. You might consider looking around for third-party tips that are made of a different material.

After seeing so many other people experiencing this same issue, I decided to contact Apple about it. They asked me to send the AirPods to them so that they can investigate further and they gave me my money back. I had the AirPods for a year. I’ve now downgraded to the AirPods Gen 3 and have had no issues so far.