Allergic to AirPod Pro eartips

had same allergy issue with Airpods pro. Managed to sell it. bought another cheaper earbuds from Aukey. Had the same issue.

Bought sony on ear headphone, same issue. Then I realized it is not really the earbuds or headphones, it is the prolonged use of any close to ear audio devices. May not apply to everybody, but something to consider.

I have the same problem with these fantastic AirPods Pro, which makes them less than useless. I posted about it earlier on this forum. In the meanwhile I tried several different eartips: foam, other kinds of silicons, the Spinfit tips… None of these help, although with the Spinfit tips, the early symptoms appeared a bit later (after 30 minutes or so), while with the other tips, and Apple’s, my ears get itchy after a couple of minutes. After each try, my ears needed about two weeks to fully recover…

I am considering the latest Sennheiser Momentum 2, but only if somebody who is experiencing the same problems with the AirPods Pro can tell me that the latest Sennheiser ones do not cause the same issues. Anyone?

I’ve been communicating with a few people on Reddit that have the same issue. Seems most people who have problems aren’t being helped by replacement tips.

One person said Sony worked for them. Another said the Amazon Echo buds gave them the same issue. My old set of Bose is fine. Strangely so is my wife’s Airpod non-Pro.

Hopefully Apple identifies and fixes the issue soon as I’d much rather stay in the Apple ecosystem.

Edwin, I bought the foam top replacements and strangely, the problem persisted. I also have the Powerbeat Pro in ear with silicone tips and have had no problems since they came out a couple of years ago. Two hours a day for years.

So it isn’t the AirPod Pro silicone because foam creates same problem. I used them with noise cancelling off and it wasn’t as bad. Maybe people should try it with it set to transparent and see if that persists. If it isn’t the noise cancelling, it leaves one remaining possibility: the white plastic housing which would make no sense. Maybe people can try and report back.

this problem is pure insanity. The problems it has caused my ears is astonishing. And no recall.

For all of you who have complained on this thread and want to contact Apple, you can call Apple Customer Support and talk to a live person. Apple does not always read the Apple Community threads, but they will listen if you call them. To reach Customer Support, click https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201232 to find the correct phone number.

The more of us who actually call them, the bigger the attention will be given to the AirPod Pro eartips irritating our ears.

I had 2 horrible ear infections back in 4/21 from the earpod pros when I first got them when I called apple about them they didn't hesitate to return my money and I also received shipping stickers to return them back as well I thought I was the only one that had issues with them

To update my story I tried replacement tips from Amazon and it didn’t help. Same reaction. I ended up getting a pair of Sony in-ear headphones and have no problems at all. But I miss the easy integration you get with the Airpods so am thinking of risking the new Airpods 3 when it comes out.

I wish Apple would at least acknowledge the issue so we can understand that they are fixing it. Without this we can’t trust that anything is being done.

Glad the Beats Fit Pro are not causing issues. Since they won't be available in other markets (Canada included) until next year I can also recommend the Beats Studio Buds as I've worn mine for hours now and had no issues. They have decent ANC, support spatial audio and are comfortable to wear.

New poster here. I got the APP’s back in December of 2020. I don’t recall having any issues until early spring when both ears began itching (when using the APP’s and when not using them). At first, I thought I had developed psoriasis in my ear canals, as I’ve suffered from psoriasis since I was a kid. It’s mostly localized to my scalp but I’ve had some mild cases on other parts of my body.

Recently, I noticed some crusting in my right ear canal, and when I tried to scrape it out with my finger, there was a small amount of clear discharge. It was then I realized the issue was more serious than I initially thought and that maybe my APP’s were the problem. I haven’t used them since last week and the itching/crust has mostly gone away. I don’t think my symptoms were as severe as others have reported but they were definitely noticeable. I started using my APM’s again and those haven’t seemed to exasperate the issue yet. I’m not sure what I’m going to do at the moment. I’m tempted to try the foam masters tips but I know that different tips don’t always alleviate the issue.

I tried other earbuds & my kids recent pros and I was fine. Then Tested again my air Pros, bad reaction.

It might be a bad batch.

Ive contacted Apple, they’re helpful but asking for Alot of info, which is time consuming.

Whatever the issue, it’s a common one effecting our health. Apple needs to take this more seriously, do the right thing & address it.

It took me a while to realized it was the Airpods but I did and nowI'm going through the same drill, I'm also an avid Apple Customer and I just got very ****** that they asked for 14 pictures although in the first phone call last week the advisor said "the photos are optional" at the time allergies were still bad and I sent two pictures already and stayed 40 minutes providing details. Now i completely stopped using them for a week because my ears were hurting bad, and now the allergy is not visible.

I thought was being reasonable trying to just have it returned since I'm not going to use them. But at this moment I'm ******.

I love Apple products, this situation is making me sad and angry at the same time.

Thank you for sharing all that BellaPhia and Rob.

Rob, Glad to know that you got refunded. I think I will insist a bit more...but now I have no allergies to take a picture..I'm afraid of wearing them again just for the sake of getting a refund and jeopardizing my ears.

I have a pair of AirPod Pro eartips and every time I wear them I get crusty ears and a clear fluid inside my ears. I stop using them and then after a few days it goes away but as soon as I wear them again it comes back. I really want to wear them but they do this every time I try to wear them. The warranty expired because I had bought them and hadn't worn them at all because I had them in a cabinet. I had to buy a pair of Bose headphones for now. I spent a lot on my AirPods just to have them give me an infection. I wanted to see if I could return them or get credit for something else even though my warranty is expired. They are working fine but ear infection is not worth wearing them.

Sadly I have to agree, I’ve come back here to confirm that once again I’ve had a reaction to the AirPods, after lots of light treatment and cleaning, it only appears to help temporarily, and I’m now back to using steroid cream and Otomize (which I’m hoping my GP will write me a new prescription for tomorrow)

If it's not a silicone allergy that it may be some form of dermatitis that is caused by sealing up the moist ear canal for extend periods. I would be enormously frustrated if I had that problem. But, I don't really think it's something that Apple can fix. No one product is going to work for everyone. Some people react to the metal in Apple Watches. Some people develop repetitive stress injuries from using MacBooks.

My problem with my AirPod Pros is that, unless I'm sitting very still, they fall out of my ears. Fortunately, I was able to solve this problem by getting some plastic earloops. But, I'm still annoyed that, when I want to go for a walk, I can't just pop them out of the case and into my ears. Instead, I have to fiddle with the loops. I'm not trying to say that my problem is exactly the same as a painful skin condition. My point is rather that they don't work perfectly for everyone.

I can now use Air Prod Pro for at least 2 hours a day with no weeping or sore ears. Its definitely the white silicone used that is causing the allergic reaction. Sadly the sound is not as good. I therefore assume Apple has chosen sound quality over the health of the users. Why do I keep asking myself the same question ... would this have happened under Steve's watch? This is not the only gripe I have with Apple. Lots of little bugs in the Apple machine, syncing issues over devices, apple watch that doesn't quite work properly. Sad really ...