Allergic to AirPod Pro eartips

And to accompany the contact Apple Support post, below is a rundown of symptoms/remedies reported in this group with the AirPods Pro over the past 12 months. Also, advocate if you can!

Common Symptoms

• Itching (Very common)
• Pain (Very common)
• Crusting around outside of ear (Very common)
• Fluid drainage (Very common)
• Ear pressure
• Headaches
• Ringing of the ears (later stages for some)
• Partial hearing loss/distortion (later stages for some)
• Apple's list of materials that may cause sensitivity: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211158

Remedies

• Stop wearing them (best and recommended solution)
• Prescription medicine from doctor in some cases (take this issue seriously, it's your hearing). Keeping medical records can help with an Apple refund request too.
• Time (weeks to months to fully recover)
• Very few have had any sustained success with coverings or new tips (stop wearing them is recommended); the tips may not be the only cause.

Advocating

• Contact Apple Support directly and report this allergy shared by many of their APP users. Tell the support agent, "I want to raise a Safety Escalation." And relate your story and the stories of fellow sufferers here.

Final answer, related to the experiment I posted about earlier. I again woke up at 3am with excessive fluid drainage from my right ear only. If you’ll recall I put the silicone tip, detached from the AirPods Pro in my right ear only. In my case, the silicone tip is clearly the primary problem. I still have No reaction in my left ear where I placed the AirPods Pro with all silicone removed.

Thank you so much for the experimenting..you are made of sturdier stuff than me!

I will add that we have had multiple posts over the years about having tried alternative third-party tips, including foam, that have had the same issues return (even after cleaning the APP surfaces and, at least in one case, covering the APPs in alternative material). It has been difficult to solve permanently.

I still recommend returning if you have this issue.

I can attest to ears being on high alert now, because the first time I tried them 6 months ago, my ears were itchy right away but took a couple days of wearing them before I started to develop severe symptoms. This time, 6 months later, I wore them for less than an hour and immediately started to develop symptoms as soon as I removed them from my ears. Within less than 24 hours I had full blown infections in both ears that were about 70% as bad as last time. I will say that I tried the Rx steroid ear drops from last time & I almost felt like they made it worse (which then makes me think back to whether they could have prolonged my healing last time). So I stopped using them & took the advice of another contributor here to just put a little cortisone cream on the outside of my ear — & a teeny bit on the inside edges but not inside the ear canal. That seemed to help settle things down quickly & more efficiently than last time. I also only slept on my back which seemed to help control the drainage at night. Overall still gross & uncomfortable but more manageable than my last experience.

If it’s actually an allergy it takes time for your body to mount a response against it which can become stronger over time. The amount of time is different from person to person. I bought the memory foam tips & put one in my left ear, not attached to the AirPod Pro. So far I’ve not had any reaction to it but I’m going to wait 24 hours. If I don’t have a reaction after that amount of time I’m going to try wearing the AirPod with the memory foam tip in my left ear. My reaction to the silicone tips is the most severe contact reaction I’ve ever had to anything in my lifetime. I’ve never experienced this kind of outer ear canal swelling & excessive drainage from my ears before.

I could add that my ears are most definitely not sensitive to everything. After my ears healed I continued to use a wired headset (off brand) with my iPod to workout on a daily basis with no reaction to that. I can also use this other set daily, even if one of my ears is irritated, and that ear will continue to heal on it’s own without any medical treatment.

After 2 days of using AHAStyle Airpods Pro replacement silicon buds I can confirm that I have had no reaction at all. These were purchased on Amazon for about £6 for 2 pairs of medium sized tips.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B087FBS8HQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I will take them out for a warm and sweaty 5 mile run this afternoon and will report back if I have a reaction - otgerwise assume that everything is fine.

I really loved my APP, tried many 3rd party ear tips but to no avail. Resorted to call Apple support for refund. Same experience as described by fellow users here: they asked a few questions, asked for photos and arrange for the collection of the APP via FedEx. The process was overall smooth and I got my refund fairly quickly.

Stanispore, how long did the process take from start to finish? I contacted Apple on October 26th, and they requested pictures and a lot of information. They called back the next day for more photos and questions, but I haven't heard a word from them since. Did you purchase your AAPs directly from Apple or from another company? I'm wondering if that makes a difference in how the cases are handled. Mine were purchased through Best Buy.

Update - after very little fanfare, apple had decided to refund me for the AirPods. They asked questions, took photos and that was about it. I’m very pleased with the level of customer service - absolutely professional and responsive - however less than pleased with the result. I would have hoped they would have an alternative solution so I could continue to use them because I do love them. But ultimately since I can’t use them I’m happy they gave me back the money. I hope one day they figure this out and I can wear them again. Good luck to every one here getting some sort of relief on this.

Well after many weeks, I got my refund today. Of note I have worn many other ear buds since then include regular iPods, Bose in ear noise canceling and Beats in ear with no issues. I didn’t get the tax portion back because I didn’t have th3 receipt for the cash just order confirmation and delivery receipts. So save that receipt! Thanks goes to to apple and their rep for handling this for me. My advice, do as I did, use this formula for information but follow that up with action and contact them! Be patient and work with them. Honey gets more than vinegar every time!

I'm on the same boat. Rarely reply to this forum but had to report for awarness. I have owned airpods pros for a year now and been using them almost daily. My issue is itching in the ears and took a while to connect to my APP. I had no issues for 8 months but now usage of one hour makes my ears itch badly. Been using old airpods for a year without issues before App. I guess i'll try new tips and if there is no help I have no other choise than selling the pods. Luckily my symptoms are not nearly as bad described here but found this thread while looking answers for the itching.

I am experiencing the same thing! Luckily have not lost hearing but I experience itchiness and liquid coming out of my ear in the area where the buds touch my ears. The liquid dries up and does become crusty as others have mentioned on this thread. I’m just going Apple does disclose what exactly the bids are made of to avoid this in the future. They need to take this more seriously since over 1000 people here are experiencing the same health problem due to their product.

Anyone experiencing the reaction during cold weather?

I didn’t have any issues until summer came and now I have been using them lightly with foam tips and so far I have not had any issues yet, it has been almost a week of daily light use.

I think it is difficult to determine if it is weather related. I had the issue regardless of climate, anecdotally.

But like everything here that we discussed as a possible cause, we only really know we have the issue when we wear them. We don't have a clear understanding of the source (or combination of factors - and they may vary among us) without clinical studies.

As for allergic reactions, it is known that they can develop over time from long-term exposure. You may start with no issue from initial exposure, and then you later develop it over time, and your immune system overreacts to the same exposure almost immediately going forward (that is when it becomes an allergic reaction). This is very typical. And it makes it hard to isolate to a seasonal cause, for example.