skin irratations and itchy ears from powerbeats pro wireless

apple support was very helpful in my case. I called and spoke with a specialist and they asked for some pictures of my ears and the powerbeats pro. They asked questions about cleaning them. I just answered them honestly and they ended up sending the case to engineering who then responded to have me send them to them so they could do some testing. I sent them off about a week ago and they said they’ll be sending me a check in the mail for the price I paid for them. They said the check may take up to 8 weeks to get to me. I purchased the AirPods Pro as a replacement and haven’t had any issues with them irritating my ears at all.

I purchased beats some years ago and broke out in a terrible rash. When I stopped wearing them the rash healed. It appears they contain latex. You can find headphones that are latex free if you do some searching.

As I mentioned above I’m using the spare tips from Jabra Elite Sport, they’re not exact fit, but so far they’re working fine.

If you had a powerbeat 2 or 3, their tips should perfectly fit the pro.

Otherwise, do a search on eBay or google PBP ear tips you should have a whole listing of aftermarket tips both foam and silicone.

We be continued to update Apple. They are going to return them to Ireland to be looked at. We shall see. I have the same issues with my skin around in and on the ears. No other earphones in 30 years have done this. I’ve taken it up with my Doctor too. He says it’s something they are having to see more of, in , particular apple beats and AirPod pros. I’m on my second change of prescription to deal with this.

Keep this discussion informed of outcomes etc.

Continue reaching out to Apple. I received a refund for my Pro Beats after 3-4 months. I remained consistent. I also tweeted Beats By Dre on Twitter. These products continue to be sold. I now only wear Apple earphones, wired. 🤦🏽‍♀️ I’m afraid to try anything new.

I’m back using mine now guys, without any significant issues.

i followed my doctor’s instructions:

1- stopped using them for a week.

2- used over the counter topical cortisone.

3- replaced the tips themselves with aftermarket generic ones.

4- keep the cortisone handy, whenever I notice any irritation I use it.

best of luck to you all...stay safe.

It’s the metal they put in their plastics. Look at it on Redit. Don’t wear them, i lost hearing in one ear and they won’t even refund me for the purchase of the beats much less my multiple medical bills and kept my headphones when i sent them in and requested them back after the denied my reimbursement.

After finding this discussion I contacted Apple who actually seem to be taking this quite seriously, although not very quickly. I described the issue I was having then was asked some questions (how long I wear the earphones, how I clean then, what symptoms I have, how long the symptoms last etc) I was then asked to send pictures of the irritation I was experiencing and pictures of me wearing the earphones. After over a week Apple contacted me and asked me to return the earphones and case. They are sending packing materials for me to do this. There has been no mention of compensation or a refund. I assume they want to examine them.

I would encourage you to do the same so that Apple is forced to acknowledge this issue. They are damaging themselves by making a great product unusable for a significant number of people.

I’ve previously posted on this thread and now have an update. I contacted Apple on the 21st May. Initially they seemed very helpful but I had to make lots of calls to chase and spoke to about 6 different agents. Long story short I had to send pictures of my ears and of the PowerBeats. I then had to return them to Apple. I’ve just had a call to say that Apple will be issuing me with a refund on receipt of proof of purchase.

I have had these for about 5 months now by far my most favorite set of beats and I have several variations of headphones. Recently the last 3 weeks I have getting a rash on the outside of the ear where the hook goes and also inside the ear. The left ear is by far worse than the right one primarily because I wear the left one more often than both at same time. Except when working out I use both. Stopped wearing them for the last two weeks and slowly has subsided. Not sure why the beats are doing this but there are many other people especially on Reddit who have been discussing this for months with no real feedback from Apple.

I just got off the phone with Ryan at Apple Support. He said he would get back to me later after looking into the situation, but I didn't get the impression from him that much will be done, if anything. He spoke about how relatively few people seem to be suffering from this problem, and that Apple would certainly be responding if the problem was much more common (but of course, that isn't the case, so....). I suggested that Apple should try 3-D printing some mockups of PBPs made from a few different but suitable materials and try them out on folks like us to see if they can find one that doesn't irritate our skin, but Ryan didn't think that was going to happen. I also suggested that Apple find out just how many people have had this problem (they must keep stats about such things). Obviously Apple wouldn't share such info with us, but surely they must have the numbers or how else would they determine if they have a real problem on their hands or not?

One other idea I have is to buy a pair of PowerBeats 4 https://www.beatsbydre.com/ca/earphones/powerbeats, the latest version of BeatsbyDre's connected-together wireless earphones, and give them a try in the hope that they're made from a different, non-irritating material. If they have the same effect on my skin as the PBPs, I'll be able to return them for a refund within two weeks of buying them. If they don't irritate my skin, they should do fine as they have a virtually identical design to the PBPs (the ear hooks!) except the two ear pieces are connected together by a single wire that goes behind the neck. I think I can live with that! :)

Last night I spoke again at length with my advisor Ryan, and he told me that Apple will be giving me a refund. I'll have to send them my PBPs so the engineers can take a look. I told Ryan that a refund is fine, but what I really want is a pair of PBPs that don't drive my ears crazy. He agreed with my idea of trying out some PB4s just in case the materials Apple uses have changed since my PBPs were made, and he confirmed that I will be able to return the PB4s to Apple for a full refund within 14 days of purchase if they cause the same problem. Let's hope the PB4s work better.

I did a few things that seemed to help the symptoms (after I saw a doctor in Hawaii who had not clue). First, I started taking Zyrtec because not only had they affected my ears but I also started itching randomly all over my body. Secondly, because I thought it was getting infected, I started applying topical neosporin to all affected areas, except obviously the inner ear. I also was experiencing severe peeling behind my ear, almost like a sunburn, so I applied Aquaphor or Eucerin, which honestly helped tremendously.

I wore the beats pro for about 2 months before my reaction came. This cream (Triamcinolone acetonide cream USP, 0.1%) stopped the leakage around my ears, but it still took about a week to heal. I healed up for a good two weeks then tried them again, after completely disinfecting the buds, and immediately the leakage began again after about an hr of use. I guess they are now useless to me, unfortunate because they were an amazing device.

an update. After a month my ears finally healed up. So I bought a new pair of Black powerbeats pro from Amazon thinking it was maybe the dye to make them white. I tried them but I replaced the tips with a leftover pair from my old 2019 Navy powerbeats pro. I wore the left headphones for about 40 minutes while jogging. At first I had no reaction, after about 5 hrs behind my ear became all hot and blistered. Only saving grace is that because I used tips from 2019 Navy powerbeats pro I did not get any reaction to inside my ears. Its obvious to me that something has changed in apple's manufacturing process from 2019 to 2020. I never never had any reactions to the 2019 Navy powerbeats pro. My wife also has a green pair from 2019, with no issues.

No more powerbeats for me. I am going with the generic airpods for 20 dollars from amazon that cause no issues and function as well as apples