AirPods causing head pressure?

I have the same issue. Neve had this bad experience with Beats wireless. That's frustrating. I strongly believe it doesn't have nothing to do with the sound pressure. This is about radiations in my opinion. 😟

I returned Airpods due to the same issue. I noticed that I started to have headache about 3 days after and got worse. So, I stopped using it and got better. Then, tried one at a time. I felt numbness and tingling on my half of face and head on the same side where I put one Airpod on.

I'm totally fine now since I returned it and stopped using it. It seems like I was not the only person.

You are spot on here Amy.

I like the device sufficiently to wear them for hours on end but alas today I am back to wired headphones (apple earpods - same shape as the airpods) and the headaches, nausea, and strangest of all tightness in the jaw are all gone. I would caution anyone against purchasing the airpods if you intend to use the airpods for extended periods. If you do purchase them and get headaches or other strange symptoms around your head, neck or jaw - please share them here.

I have been using Bluetooth earbuds for years, usually Plantronics, without issues. I was anticipating the AirPods but was concerned about them fitting my ears, as I couldn't wear the wired earpods comfortably. My solution was to just sort of place them in my ears, without trying to make them fit deeply. I loved the feeling of freedom, loved the sound, and convenience. However, I began noticing a feeling of "pressure", then a lot of headaches. The headaches seemed to slowly go away when I removed the AirPods. Then I would insert them again, and the pressure and headaches began again. There is no physical pressure to the ear, nor any pain on the ear itself. This effect is consistent, pretty much whenever I wear them, even though they are not inserted to any degree, just sort of stay placed easily onto the ear. I also am prone to migraines and worry that somehow, these exacerbate that vulnerability, although I don't know why.

I know they are connected over Bluetooth 4, but I felt no headache before I connected they over my iCloud account with my iMac. There are several tests from some people with measuring instruments which clarified that even in the case the AirPods are sending. It doesn't depend how strong the signal is, but the frequency sending.

I'm really no one who condemns Bluetooth - no, I love new technologies. This is what makes me so sad ... I love my new AirPods and I would love if I could wear them like my Bluetooth headsets before 😟

Its bums me out that these otherwise great devices seem to be giving me headaches and actually making me feel like puking...

From the reddit thread:

"I finally got a pair of AirPods a few weeks ago. All seemed fine for first several times I wore them, then Monday morning I had them in and was listening to a podcast when all of a sudden my right cheek went numb. It felt like a local anesthetic had been applied, like when you get a tooth filled. I immediately did the stroke tests and everything was fine. I called my doctor and he advised me to go the emergency room to be safe. They did an MRI on my head, CT scan, and ultrasounds of my chest and carotid arteries. Everything came back clear. I didn't think about the AirPods until this morning.

I googled "Airpods and headaches" and found some people are reporting headaches. One user on MacRumors had this to say:

Apple in their infinite wisdom have decided to make the W1 chip that's in the Airpods (and some Beats cans) a Bluetooth class 1 device. Class 1 devices can transmit at up to 100 mW - so the Airpods potentially output an EM field that's up to 100x stronger than that of a regular bluetooth headset. To put this into perspective: 100 mW is what a WiFi access point uses - and nobody in his right mind would put one of these on each side of the head for hours a day.

Class 1 Bluetooth devices can transmit up to 100 meters! Why would they need to be so powerful? On top of the Bluetooth microwave radiation, the AirPods stay in-sync via near field magnetic induction."

Finally got my airpods after a long wait. Loved them for the first day and a half. used them almost non-stop for an entire day, except the 15 minutes it took to charge every few hours. took a few conference calls, listened to several hours of an audio book while i cleaned up around the house. all in all, about 9 - 10 hours of continuous usage (except for charge times). went to sleep and woke up with a small pressure behind my eye. the pain kept going for the next 6 hours and grew to intense unbearable, pulsing headache. finally took 2 advil, and passed out for about 4 hours. woke up with a lingering dull pain. 2 days later (today) feeling fine. Will try the airpods again, maybe with less usage and see if I get the headaches again. the headache was really intense.

couldnt do anything but sleep. really love my airpods, but if it gives me another headache, will have to return. =[. love them and super convenient. but the pain is horrible, and a whole day wasted.

lots of articles out there describing the lack of research by fcc on bluetooth dangers. most articles state research has not deemed bluetooth safe, but rather the lack of research to deem bluetooth unsafe has left them categorized as safe.

I have been a bluetooth headset user for many years. have a sena s3 kit on my motorcycle helmet, typical usage 1 - 2 hours continuous for 2 sessions. 4 hours total a day. Plantronics backbeat go 2 for many years. typically for boarding a flight, workouts or short flights 2 - 3 hours continuous usage a day.

I've never had headaches before, but I've never used bluetooth headsets for as long in a day as I did with the airpods.

I have been using Bluetooth gadgets for years and never had problems with these. Although I have problems with 5ghz wifi ... I began noticing the same feeling of pressure and headaches when I connected my AirPods to my iMac over iCloud for the first time. It's even worse when I'm having a phone call, but I feel the headache (and tinitus) even when my AirPods are far away - in the other room - from me in the case.

I think I'll return them ...

When connected to your iMac it isn't over iCloud it is via Bluetooth. And if the AirPods are in their case in another room they are turned off and aren't transmitting anything. You should return them and use the money to see a doctor.

I looked and found no tests that send the AirPods are transmitting while closed in the case. The only time they might do so would be if you hold the button down on the case to place them in pairing mode to connect to a device that doesn't support the W1 chip. Even if they did transmit they would be limited to about 33 feet in range and even less in this case as the case would severely hamper the range. You said they were "far away" in another room.

Same issue here. Love everything else about them but as I had a couple of long calls using either actual phone call or voip apps and started getting this pressure headache kind of behind and next to my ears. Never had this issue with more extended usage hours using the wired iPhone EarPods. It gradually gets better when I take them off then back to headache when I put them back on and do one more phone call. Just took them off 5 minutes ago after last call and headache slowly getting better. It's true that it feels like some sort of pressure.

I have been having back of head headaches and slight nausea since beginning to use the airpods, i thought it was unrelated to airpods but see many others have similar symptoms. @apple - whats the story here? The product idea is great but have these been sufficiently tested?

So how many millions of people do you see with this issue? Because they can't make them fast enough to keep up with sales. I've seen less than 10 people complain about pressure. I don't get the symptoms you do nor does anyone else I know who has them. I would suggest you make an appointment with your doctor and take them with you.

Was there anything in there about the Beats Solo 3, Beats X or PowerBeats. Or any of the more recent BT headphones? All of them use a higher power BT. And the W1 chip is largely used just to make the connection, while my AirPods have good range they aren't anywhere near as powerful as my Airport Extreme (which also has a larger antenna).

They have done many double-blind tests on non-ionizing radio signals (which includes WiFi, BT) and none of them showed any relation between the waves and affect on the human body. Other than if you turn the volume up loud you can hurt your hearing.

You find people who write the posts like you read in Reddit all over the internet. I have a rare-blood disease (confirmed medically) and on the web site for one of the foundations related to it you get people all the time who have researched the internet and decided they had my disease. They read an article on the internet where someone else had the SAME (they never are) symptoms as them, etc. so they just know this is what is causing them to have their problems. One went so far as to get funds to fly to a hospital and join a medical study, but first they of course did medical tests to diagnose her. She didn't have it. Now she goes all over the internet telling people with my disease not to volunteer for medical studies "because they will take your diagnosis away from you." These are the people who post on Reddit.

Go to your doctor, your ear canal may have an issue or it may have a unique shape that is not compatible with the AirPods. The AirPods have a 98% approval rating and the vast majority of those that don't like them is due to having to use Siri. Stroke-like symptoms and pressure were not listed.

By the way, if you went to an Apple Store to buy your AirPods, or have ever been in one or many other stores you were exposed to much higher amounts of BT and WiFi, apple uses beacons and other stores have adapted them.