Allergic to AirPod Pro eartips

Photos? Of what, ear crust? I’ll surely give them a call but I’m not going to reinfect my ear canals just so I can take a picture to send to Apple, Inc.

I get that you’re just the messenger and I appreciate you for that, it’s just ridiculous that with this many complaints over the time period of this thread that we haven’t seen anything in the way of a recall by now or at least that they’re replacing eartips with redesigned ones to anyone that wants/needs them.

The pictures only took about 2 minutes to take. I would suggest you contact them, some people are just getting refunds straight away and others are having to send them back for testing, apple are paying all costs for shipment.

Mine are currently with them for testing and I am just waiting to here.

I jumped through their silly hoops and did not get a refund. I don't think they really want to help because they asked the exact same questions multiple times. Even they guy from Apple said "I know you have already answered these questions but......". After being on the phone with them a second time for over 30 minutes I figured my time was worth more than sitting on the phone with them. Now my Pros are just merely paper weights. Poor service from Apple.

I have just received an update from Apple over my AirPods Pro. They are now sending mine to America for more testing. I am now getting a refund for mine.

I think they are refunding if you brought them straight from Apple and if you brought them a third party seller then they want to you to go them for refund.

I have a business team at Apple and buy all my Apple products from them.

Will update when they update me about the problem.

Mine were 6 months old and I kept the original receipt for them.

I did answer a lot of questions, I also sent a lot of pictures which they asked for.

I also allowed them to be sent Ireland 🇮🇪 for testing.

Is it possible that you didn’t answer enough questions, or send photo’s. And is it possible that this why you didn’t get refund.

I am not you and can not answer for you but I do find it very strange that they are refusing to refund you.

But if you go through the thread, almost everyone that has contacted Apple, has received refund once they allowed Apple to investigate the issue.

Same for me. I filed a case and spoke to an Apple advisor. They check with safety and security but ultimately reported they could not refund me or do anything for me other than suggest that I clean them via instructions they developed. Hugely disappointing. I expect more from Apple when it comes to customer service.

I started having this problem about a month ago. I had a telehealth appt and was prescribed antibiotics which didn’t help. I finally went in to be seen and the dr diagnosed me with a FUNGAL INFECTION that was, in her opinion, caused by the AirPods Pro. It was only in my right ear which is the ear I usually put one in (leaving the other ear free). It is hot here and I live near the beach and she said that wearing them outside caused a seal that was a breeding ground for fungus. I was told to put Antifungal drops (Lomotrin) in my ear 3x a day for 10 days. If it doesn’t clear up I need to see an ENT because they can be difficult to treat and it was a “significant infection.” I’m so sad because I’ve never loved ear buds more. Hope this can help someone and save the time and $ I paid to be seen!

I have been having similar issues and opened a case with Apple. I wear the AirPods pro for 45 Mins to an hour, my ears start itching exactly where the pods sit. By next day my ears start draining some slimy liquid, itching gets worse in the ear, crusting occurs and then 3 - 4 days later stops as long as I AM NOT using the pods. Cleaned the pods with alcohol prep pads as a precaution didn’t work, tried three times same issue each time. Clean my ears with alcohol pads, burns a lot.

So my theory is the pods are heating up but we don’t feel the heat for some reason, the skin is burning causing the ears to react, Hence the discharge, skin itching and crusting. Are there in dermatologists in the forum hi can opine on this. I hope Apple comes with a solution, I was really looking forward to using the pods but can’t.

If you weren’t feeling heat, that would imply there’s some kind of extreme radiation coming off the headphones, which is really not likely. It would be a huge safety oversight for a device to even have the capability to malfunction in that way.

I also experienced the symptoms you describe, which developed after 4 months or so of regular use without any issues. Tried cleaning the tips as well, with the same results. My Bose in-ears don’t cause any reaction at all.

A few users in this thread successfully changed their tips to third party silicone or foam and alleviated their symptoms, which pretty clearly points to an allergic reaction caused by the stock tips. For some it‘s apparent at first use, for others it develops over time. The likely cause of the latent allergic reactions is that individuals’ body chemistries change, or the stock tips degrade to a point where a certain material in them affects the user in a way that it wasn’t able to do so previously. Some of us might have developed an ear infection. There are a lot of variables.

Let us know the outcome of your case!

I can report the same problem: itching, irritation, pain and fluids leakage after wearing the AirPods Pro. I saw a doctor and went through the 10-day regimen. It got better. I wore again, and I had same issue the very same day.

It is interesting to me that everyone assume it is an allergy. My personal impression, having worn these types of devices forever with no issue, is that it was the sound cancelling or isolation feature, perhaps something about the nature of the vibrations created that irritates my ear. I may be off, but that is the only thing different from these and the other devices I have used. I do use over the ear headphones with similar features and without an issue; they are not in the ear canal though.

This is all just a theory. I am encouraged to learn others are trying alternative materials with some success perhaps. I am personally afraid to mess with my ears anymore on this product...they are kind of critical to me.

Here's what makes me think its contact dermatitis/allergic reaction, at least for me. So Ive worn earbuds my whole life, and regular AirPods for over a year before I got the Pros, never had a single problem; and I worn those original AirPods 24/7, fell asleep with them in all the time, nothing. Wore these Pros for maybe 2 weeks and them **** hit the fan in terms of of my ears. The weird thing is that when I went back to wear my original AirPods (after I let my ears heal from the pros, returned them, got the refund etc.) I had the same exact reaction, just as severe. Tried Sony wireless earbuds too, same thing. So whatever it is about the AirPods Pros, whether it be the noise cancelling technology, composition of the plastic, or just something else being emitted by the device, it activated my immune system to react to some antigen on the surface of the devices, likely something in the material composition of the Airpod. Like anything, you can develop new allergies to elements etc, and it just seems like these airpod pros are causing us to develop a new allergy.

I think it’s either a feature and or the materials, because this thread has shown that some people are using different tips and now using them with no problem.

When this started happening I was convinced that it was the silicon they were using because I never had this issue when I used my original AirPods (gen 1). But when I changed the tips and had the same reaction, I started to think it was the noise cancelling feature instead. But I do not have my olds to test this as I lost them a while ago.

I contacted Apple and they asked me to send to Ireland for testing, but they are on there way to America for extensive testing.

If you haven’t reported your issue please do because the more reports they get, the more they will look into this.

I am getting a refund for my AirPods today.

Apple told me when I reported my issue that foam tips don't have the same noise cancelling performance, so when switching to foam tips you lose some of the sound quality.

I did order some anyway to try it and Im able to use them again. (I use only one at a time and if I have itching I switch right away, and cannot use for lengthy hours.) I think the complete blockage of outside sound, also air, causes fungal growth. If I apply the fungal/steroid prescription at the first sign of itching, my ears are fine again very quickly, and Im able to use my earbuds pro. (With the Foam Master tips from Amazon)

I wont use the silicone noise cancelling tips though and I would never recommend this product or buy it again. Apple didn’t offer me a refund, I had them a long time before my issue started.

For me the reactions started fairly quickly. I did try the foam tips but it had the affect but took longer start the reaction.

I opted to send them for testing, which Apple paid the postage to return them.

But then sadly they needed to tested more, that’s when they told I was getting refund. But I had only had mine for 3 months.

I am still healing from the last reaction, on Friday I have finally spoken to the doctor who has given me a prescription to clear the last remaining part of this.

Apple have just announced new head phones, so I am going to wait and see what features they before I perhaps go and buy another pair of the original AirPods.

I do think it’s something to do with the seal that the pro have to do the noise cancelling feature and not the tips.

What I’d like to know is why Apple isn’t reading their own community forum regarding this issue. I’m seems simple enough! I replaced my tips with another silicone tip and haven’t had the issue since then so I kept mine. But when I reported it they said they’d never heard of the issue before. Which floors me since there are so many on this forum that are troubled by them.