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 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 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.

Hi!

I had the same problem and changed my AirPods for another ones. The new AirPods are perfect and the problem with those AirPods was gone and I'm glad for this because I love them.

Yes! Exact same problem--tons of people are having the same issue and are talking about it online (and in this forum) but if you call Apple they say they've never heard of it. They literally told me to have my head examined (not joking, they said I should seek medical advice). CALL APPLE and report it, because according to the support people I spoke to they don't pay any regard to what's on the forums (even their own, here) and have never heard of anyone reporting this problem. Ridiculous! They should recall this product.

You can take the first step, give yours back to Apple.

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."

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.

You might want to see a physician before you consult with an attorney, to rule out any physical problems you may have first.

So when you run your microwave does it cause extreme pain to you until it stops? When you go into the Apple Store do you immediately have extreme pain?

You are actually late to the party as they just released a report that cell radiation does not cause cancer.

If you bought them in the last 14 days return them and get your money back.

BobSaggy wrote:

Amy, i just ignore people with such responses. People just don't know how different each person is. No two are alike but might have similarities in certain aspects. I too just bought AirPods and noticing the same pressure in my head. You can sense the tone from others who try to downplay what people are reporting and people who claim to speak for . I just ignore and take what I need from the conversations and drop the rest. Most times you don't need a doctor as our bodies speak to us very clearly when something is wrong and lifestyle plays a big part. At least i've observe for myself personally. Will see how this goes. For now will only use it when i absolutely have to and stick to my EarPods as I did not experience the pressure until i started using AirPods.

No one here claims to speak for Apple. Anyone with any common sense in this thread has suggested that, if you have severe headaches, you should be talking to a doctor as they can be a sign of something serious. Or they may not be. But, it can be quite hard to tell the difference. Lifestyle changes will not cure brain tumors.

The notion that "waves" or "radiation" from EarPods is the cause of headaches has no scientifically plausible mechanism. And people are generally far more alike than they are different, at least physiologically.

As any competent attorney will send anyone with a claim like this to a doctor before doing anything else might as well cut out the middleman.

I had issues from the 3rd day so again shows it varies with different people. Tested it on the 4th, 5th and on the 6th day, returned them. All those symptoms are gone now since i returned them.

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?

I had debilitating chronic tension headaches for 20+ years before talking to a doctor. My doctor suggested using one pillow instead of two and spending less continuous time looking at a screen. Amazingly, these two small changes eliminated the headaches - from every other day, to once a month. Tension headaches can be caused by keeping your head at a certain angle for too long, and it's possible that the switch to AirPods from EarPods slightly changed your head angle, creating muscle tension near your forehead.