One of the things that I love about AirPods is how universally comfortable and wearable they are. From the first-gen AirPods to the AirPods Pro, I’ve had a generally good experience with all of them. Despite this, I’ve been told that there inevitably exists a small percentage of us who might not find their AirPods as comfortable all the time. So, if you’re one of the people furiously googling “My AirPods hurt my ears, what can I do?”, worry not! Just read on.
Wait out the first few days
Sounds horrible, but I speak from experience for this one. AirPod fit problems are actually pretty common in the first few days of wearing them and take some breaking in, mostly due to the alien feeling that comes with Bluetooth earphones that aren’t supported by anything else. Once you get used to them, you’ll probably come to love them as much as the rest of us do.
Alternate between ears when wearing them for a long time
I know I’m not the only one when I say that my AirPods hurt my ears after a while. This doesn’t happen a lot, but sometimes when you wear them for long stretches of time without a break they do tend to start hurting. If you, too, face this problem, the easiest way is to alternate between the left and right AirPods to give your ears some rest from the hard material.
You might be placing them wrong
This might be a no-brainer, but it’ll surprise you how many people place their AirPods incorrectly and hurt their ears. If your ears hurt when you use your AirPods, it might be because you’re setting them too deep in. I’ve had many friends come to me, complaining, “My AirPods hurt my ears, what can I do?” and half of the time it’s because they’re mindlessly shoving their AirPods in as far as they go.
Believe me when I say that’s not going to do your ears any favours. Plus, it doesn’t ensure that they won’t fall off either; I’ve found that placing them like that actually makes them more prone to falling out. Try to place them comfortably half-way into your ears and you might find that your discomfort is reduced.
But what if they fall out?
While the AirPods are supposed to universally fit, it might not be the case for everyone. While this issue has been addressed with AirPods Pro, the previous generations of AirPods lack in the size options for silicone tips. You can fix this yourself by getting general silicone earbud covers or tips from the market or creating makeshift ones using tape like this MacRumors reader did. These covers will also help make the AirPods a little bit gentler on your ear due to the soft material.
Even AirPods Pro won’t work for me
Generally speaking, the AirPods Pro is a vast improvement when it comes to fit due to the three sizes of silicone tips that come with it for users with varying ear proportions. In case this doesn’t seem to be working for you, there are a few things you can try.
For one, try interchanging the silicone tip sizes for your ears. It could be that the small size fits one of your ears best while the other feels better with the medium one. Make sure to try on the sizes and experiment a little to find your best fit.
Another solution is using foam to make the silicone tips fit even more snug in your ears as demonstrated on MacStories.
If all else fails
If after all this your AirPods really don’t seem to be working well for you, then you might have to face the disappointing reality that it just wasn’t meant to be. And then, all you can hope to do is find someone willing to buy the pair off you or give it to someone in your family (Unless you’re willing to suffer the discomfort, in which case who are we to judge?).
Luckily, there is now a huge availability of such Bluetooth earphones in the market, so you can always try different ones to see which fit you best. There’s Apple’s own Powerbeats Pro, Samsung Galaxy Buds, Noise Shots, and so many more.
I know, I know, it sucks not to be able to stay in the ecosystem. But it’s far better than suffering from aching ears!Have you had problems with your AirPods? Share how you solved it with the AppleSutra community by commenting below or DMing us on Instagram.
They just suck!!! I have small ears and I’ve heard from other people with little ears that it’s just not possible to wear them comfortably. How can such an expensive product claim to have a universal fit when they hurt SO much for a decent sized subset of the population?? They also do not stay in no matter how I place them and I’ve heard this from other people too. Air pods are great apparently if you have medium to large ears which I guess most people have? I’ll keep my cute ears and throw the air pods in the garbage.
I 100% agree! I have little ears also and the airpods just KILL.! I tried using them on a plane a few weeks ago and I had tears in my eyes after 10 minutes. ????. I never want to set eyes on those evil things again as long as I live.
Yes Precisely I had the same Involvement with the Airpods, They actually drop a lot, in that case, I had at slightest 3 AirPods fair in 2 months but after the new Airpods Pro has made my life simple they are easy to fit in my ears and they have the most excellent touch sensor & I Love the Voice cancellation Feature in it, Now I don’t lose a lot of Airpods recently there was a marked down offer on a web store so I got the new Ones for me & One for my Big Brother.
I’m so glad I came into this forum and realized that I’m not the only one with this problem ! I was just going crazy , wanting to use my earbuds at night so as not to disturb my husband’s sleep and having to go through this pain that comes with using these earbuds . I drag them out and put them back in , I’ve tried adjusting their fit , I’ve tried alternating between the 2 ears , but nothing seems to work and I am stuck with the pain from using these hard, too-large-for-my-ears things . Glad that I’m not alone !
Air pods are too big for my ears. They pain!!! What a poor design.
Im in the same boat but love the sound quality so I will suck it up. But they are uncomfortable in my ear.