# My Apple AirPods Pro just went from hero to zero in no time...

Let me start by saying I've been a massive fan of my Apple AirPods for years now. I had a pair of
the originals which I used daily for a year or so and I upgraded to the AirPods Pro in September 2020.

I absolutely loved my original AirPods and recommended them to people all the time. I had mixed
feelings when I upgraded to the AirPods Pro, as I wasn't a huge fan of the Silicon tips. Seemed
like a step backwards to me, and I found the originals sat in my ear much more comfortably. But I
soon got used to them and appreciated the new noise cancellation features.

Recently however I noticed my ears were extremely sore. They were sore to the touch, I noticed
this when cleaning them. I also noticed that my ears seemed very waxy later on in the day which
is very unusual and something that isn't normally a problem. Finally, I noticed my ears started
to become flaky as well as sore.

I stopped using my AirPods Pro immediately at this point and went back to the wired headphones
that came with my iPhone. My ears quickly healed and returned to normal. So I tried the AirPods
Pro again. I listened to music for an hour or so and took a couple of phone calls. I then
removed them and waited to see if the ear problems would return over the next day or
so...**they did!**

I have now repeated this same test on three separate occasions, weeks apart. Each time my ears
were perfectly normal, and I'd only used wired earphones. Each time a day or two after using the
AirPods Pro my ears would develop sores, flakes and all that good stuff.

![picture damage caused to my ear by airpods pro](/assets/images/blog/2021/06/29-airpods.jpg)

I've searched online and I've seen people reporting the same issue. Many are suggesting that the
problem is an allergic reaction to the Silicon tips, but I do not think this is the true cause. I
wore these for months without a problem. This is a problem that has developed very recently.

I have theories as to what is causing this, but I don't want to talk openly about these yet. I
will try some alternative tips and see if that helps.

I hope this isn't caused by what I think it is though as it's getting next to impossible to find
wired alternatives these days, and I expect pretty soon there will be no wired alternatives in
production at all.

APPLE AIRPODS NO :(