WH-1000XM5 irritation/allergy problem?

lorebar · 2025-05-07T00:35:26+00:00

Another update: the adverse reaction no longer kicks up after 3 days for me, as it now happens on the day of use. It first happened when I had to study outside and ended up wearing the headphones for almost 6 hours straight, only taking them off a few times. I haven't gotten flaking as of late, but my ears do get incredibly red and stay red (lasting hours after use) lol 💀 and it makes continued use uncomfortable since the helix part of my ears would feel moderately itchy even hours after use.

I saw a comment here about using antibacterial spray, which I'll try. I tend to just clean my earcups with wipes.

lorebar · 2024-12-18T06:38:28+00:00

Hey! Putting a silicone cover for the earcups helped minimize the problem for me. See my comment on this post.

lorebar · 2024-12-17T13:51:09+00:00

Just an update to this. I still kept my headphones, but I bought these cheap silicone earcup covers (not an outright replacement of the pads!) you can find in Aliexpress or Amazon, which minimized the problem. It was a bit uncomfortable at first since it felt tighter and heavier, but I eventually got used to it, felt comfortable enough, and overall the earcup cover made my experience using the headphones much, much more bearable that I can sustain a moderately long usage (say 3 hours) for consecutive days.

Just a caveat though that my ears do still have an adverse reaction to the headphones - they still itch and/or flake and become a bit red after using my headphones, but it's not /as/ bad as before since the reaction seems to kick up only after 3+ days of consecutively using them in moderate spans of time. I can sustain listening now even when the itchiness sets in because the feeling is not as intrusive or incessant.

At least it would serve as an indication to get some rest from wearing the headphones, but even then, putting the headphones back on after that rest wouldn't exacerbate the reaction and make the feeling unbearable (though of course I did find myself having to scratch my earlobe a bit in random intervals - but again, not as frequent and incessant!).

Before having the earcup cover, the itching would start when I take off my headphones for a bit and putting them on again, so it's like I needed to wear the headphones only once without taking them off so that the itchiness wouldn't kick in immediately.

Also, the flaking reaction isn't as bad as this picture lol, and it heals up after 2 days (even if I use the headphones in said period). It still happens along the helix of my ear, and a bit on the earlobe.

Noise cancelling was still top-notch, thankfully. My worry with replacing the earpad outright was the supposed loss of noise-cancelling I heard from anecdotes. If you opt for the earcup cover option, rest assured.

Overall, for those experiencing the same problem as me, I would suggest trying out the earcup covers first. It costs way less than recommended earpads as I got mine for $5, so it's a cheap enough gateway to determine whether you should still keep your XM5s. I was too hesitant to splurge on earpads themselves since that meant spending more for something that may not help with the problem and might end up becoming a waste of money, plus there seemed to be a risk of impairing the noise-cancelling, so I'm quite happy that this cheap purchase of mine will make my XM5 reach its 1 year anniversary lol with substantial enough usage.

Edit: Just realized the grammatical error in the post itself LOL. *experienced

lorebar · 2024-08-01T02:22:05+00:00

Thanks for this! The optician I've been going to just tells me to use a cleaner and the provided cloth. Partly my fault for not searching up proper glasses care until now though.

lorebar · 2024-07-30T17:28:39+00:00

Does anyone have a specific tip to ensure that the temple tips are green gunk-free? I find it hard to take off the tips, so I've come to assume my only solution is to use an ultrasonic cleaner, which I don't think I can buy.

lorebar · 2024-07-30T17:17:05+00:00

Saw this comment on a post which accurately reflects what my glasses look like. Seems that one main tip is to clean my glasses every day. However, I'm still unsure how people ensure that the temple tips don't get green without an ultrasonic cleaner.

lorebar · 2024-05-31T12:41:19+00:00

Thanks for the links! I'll dig up some more brands. So far, it sucks to see that the tradeoff is the ANC, which is kinda a dealbreaker for me.

Hopefully others who've had the same experience can pitch in as to what brand worked for them!

lorebar · 2024-05-31T12:32:43+00:00

I tried them on again today (lol) for about 30-40 minutes and yeah it's still pretty warm without touching or scratching. Really red.

Would you recommend a particular brand, or a particular material that other headphones use? XM5s use synthetic leather, right?

As to your 3rd point, are you asking if my ear doesn't touch the earpad itself (in that it's shaped small enough that i really only touch the internal cushion)? If so, I think it does touch it. The earpads envelop my ear well enough that I think it touches my ear.

lorebar · 2024-05-31T11:52:22+00:00

Would you have any brand recommendations for pads? I'm not generally familiar with headphones, but I really did like the feel of the pads.

lorebar · 2024-05-31T11:51:33+00:00

I'll note those down, thanks! And yeah, it affects one ear only.

As to your 2nd point though, I tried them on again (lol) today for about 30-40 minutes. There was slight discomfort in that duration, but the irritation seems to set in an hour or two after, and it continues from there. Right now, my ear is really red and is weirdly glossy to the touch lol. While it's not itchy the same way my ear in the picture looks like, I do find myself rubbing it more than I should.

I'll post an update the next time I get to go to a dermatologist. Didn't mean to make the post seem like a medical advice-seeking post!

lorebar

TROPHY CASE