Allergic to AirPod Pro eartips

I also use the Damon silicone covers plus I changed the silicone tips to just a third party brand. Since I tried both at the same time I can’t tell which helped me. I didn’t want to experiment after this helped. The silicone skins are a little tricky to put on because they are so thin. I bought them in white so you can’t even see them. I’ve suggested them before about three times with Amazon links and no one ever responded on this discussion so I’m glad to see someone else writing about them.

They had me send pictures of my ears and the AirPods in my ears, as well as pictures of the charging case. I had proof I saw my doctor but they said they didn’t need it. Now I’m waiting for the refund check which they claimed could take up to 2 months to get. I also had Apple+care on my pods which they refunded at a prorated amount. I got that check in a few weeks. Guess that’s a different department lol

Unfortunately, the answer, after all this time, is indeed to simply not wear them.

Months of chronicled experiments from our more persistent test subjects here typically end badly; the exceptions are not the rule.

Go to page 95 to see my regular posting and the one below by another contributor here to get a summary.

I would concentrate on replacing them and getting a refund as a better, safer use of time; you deserve the pain-free sleep.

Attempted remedies that have NOT worked for most people:

-Cleaning (pods and case - and yes we have seen all types of cleaner to the point of damaging the finish)

-Changing silicone tips type and brands

-Using no silicone tips (APPs powered on or off)

-Duct-taping pods' body

-Duct-taping behind-ear loops (used Powerbeats Pro for test)

-Medicine and ointments long term (if pods used again after treatment)

I will start posting this with the periodic, regular summary since curiosity about remedies keeps resurfacing. Understandably since we are fast approaching 100 pages.

Remedies that work:

- Stop wearing them

Yes you are allergic to the silicon and whatever proprietary materials they are using in the AirPod pro tips. They act so surprised when you tell technical agents like you are the first person contacting them about this. Other than purchasing hypoallergenic tips from 3rd party vendors they really don’t care.

No issues with the other AirPods and I wore them for 3 years. Bought the original AirPods in 2017 and bought the AAP August 2020 and the infection occurred October 2020. Drainage this week, thankfully he had a tube in and the ENT told hi the drainage should stop within a day or two or he needs to report back. After more investigations and finding this thread, he has halted using the AAP. We cannot go through another episode from October.

Now that my ears had several months to recover I tried one more experiment. While I returned the AirPods Pro I kept the silicone covers for the body of the AirPod that I purchased separately from Amazon. I got out the Wired headphones that came with a 2020 iPhone purchased. I put the silicone cover over the body of the left earpiece of the wired headset and wore this for a couple of hours while working. This caused No reaction. That would seem to rule out the silicone as a cause of the reaction. However, I still feel very strongly that both the silicone tips & silicone covers in some way greatly exacerbated the reaction to the AirPods Pro. Having the silicone tips on caused a much more severe reaction. Adding the silicone covers caused the reaction to become more widespread for me, affecting the outer ear which was not affected using the tips alone. Even with all of the silicone pieces removed there is still a mild reaction that I don’t experience with other wired earpieces.

I am starting to suspect the volume as the reason. Have you tried wearing the APP with volume around 50 or less to see if the problem still there?

For me I cleaned the APP and the charge box with hand soap, for the tips I put it on soap water for a few hours then use the APP with volume around 50% and the allergic problem has been gone since. I don't use APP a lot (1 hour/day) so I am not sure how it will affect for long hours of use.

I’m with you, there! I’ve submitted what I hope will be the last of my pics and 🤞 for a refund on my pristine, barely used (because I can’t! 😭) APPs. I am left with raging tinnitus, which will not go away. I have tried the Sony’s, which are less comfortable (but to which I am not allergic). I find the sound and noise cancelling superior to the APPs, but the connectivity and controls are poor and the playback ‘swallows’ a couple of words a minute, which is really not acceptable. I really hope Apple manages to fix and explain whatever is causing the problem with the APPs as I really loved them and so wanted not to have these awful problems.

I had the same problem as all of you, very annoying and dangerous. however, this has not always been the case. practically after about 7 months I got tired that nobody or when I had a call could hear me even with practically zero noise around and I found that the problem was common and depended on the hardware malfunction, so that I went to an authorized center and after having encountered the problem they only replaced the earphones (with no health problems, I used them every day). they returned the earphones to me in bulk with a set of new ear tips in a letter envelope. after the first few minutes of use, **** happened, itching, discomfort, pain and drainage of the ears ... scabs, sores and perennial discomfort. I have been in contact for more than one with the assistance that asked me for photos, exams and much more, as if they were waiting for everything to pass by itself and the warranty expires. the rubber tips have a strange smell and until now no other model of headphones have caused me a similar reaction ... I state that years back I have used hearing protection devices in the workplace of which even the caps have never had problems . I wonder what material we used in China for the series given to me. i think i will send at my expense for a test for the materials used.

I had my APP for 12 months without any issues until they started buzzing and crackling so I had them both replaced by apple when they opened a replacement programme for that issue. It was only following the exchange that I began having the same issues described here, discharge, crusting, itching and pain which lasted several days. Strangely this was only in my right ear and that ear also failed the seal test no matter which tip I used or any amount of wriggling to try and get a better fit. Despite trying several times I now always get trouble in the right ear so I have now gone back to standard AirPods with no issue.

I have exactly the same symptoms: itching, drainage of clear liquid, soreness, moderate pain and crusty and flaky skin. I have additional information, however, which this forum might find interesting: I also bought the Powerbeats Pro and they give me exactly the same symptoms. Note that I have absolutely no symptoms at all with the Earpods or with the Beats Studio3, which suggests that the problem is not in the nickel of the acoustic mesh, which is present in the Earpods. Nor is it radiation heating since I have no problem with the Beats Studio3, assuming that their radio power and frequencies are similar to those of the AAP and Powerbeats Pro.

Now, the thing that is interesting is that the soft hooks of the Powerbeats Pro that wraps around the external ear to keep the headset in place also irritates the skin of my external ears in exactly the same way as the tips irritates my ear canal. There is not any liquid discharge from this part of the ear, but the other symptoms are there: itchiness, irritation, mild pain and the development of crusty and flaky skin.

So, one conclusion seems to be that the material of the AAP tips, of the Powerbeats tips and of the Powerbeats hook all trigger a pathological reaction in my ears. But according to the many posts in this forum this might not be the only thing.

I have ordered third-party foam tips for the AAP. As soon as they arrive, I will try them on and report back. I am aware that for a large number of people in this forum this DID NOT fix the problem. But it will be interesting to try. I will report.

I propose that the people of this thread should list out their allergies, see if we can find any correlations/similarities.

Especially if you have allergies to Nickel, Silicone, Acrylates and Methacrylate.

Also note that if anyone is taking antihistamines, antidepressants, and any heartburn medication, you are more susceptible to allergies.

I wore my AirPods Pro for several months without any issues. Gradually my ears started to have drainage which dried to a clear skin like substance that I was able to pick off. Ears also started to itch. After stopping the AirPods Pro my ears were back to normal. Probably an allergic reaction to the tips. I saw two ear doctors that post told me I had psoriasis of the ears but now I believe it was the AirPods Pro.

Switching to another set of headphones, any kind, is the best choice. But you may have more difficulty with in ear options initially. Since your immune system has been triggered by APPs, it can overreact to many things placed in the ears seemingly. And for some of us who had serious reactions, there was just a long healing time and discomfort in the ears regardless. Just be aware that this has been a problem.