Ear Damage (hearing loss and ringing)

[greenflash107]

My Brother-in-Law was sighting in his deer rifle this year, shot it once without any ear protection, and has lost all hearing in his right ear. He was just fitted with a $7000.00 hearing aid for his left ear. Now he knew he had some hearing loss anyway, but he said as soon as he shot the rifle, he heard a loud ringing and a sharp pain in his right ear. Thats when it went. He just retired and is down to one ear and a hearing aid to boot. (I did not know that hearing devices cost so much money). Please wear hearing protection when shooting

 

[jlday70]

8 years shooting 155mm Artillery pieces in the Army has taken 40% of my hearing and left me with tinnitis. As was stated before in this post i wouldn't wish this ringing in my ears on my worst enemy. Having to have the drive through teller repeat crad three or four times gets annoying to.

I never shoot anymore without some sort of hearing protection.

 

[WinchesterAA]

Oh yeah.. since I was 8 I've had the same ring from firing a .22LR pistol without hearing protection. I remember the shots. I could only fire three before it was too painful for me to keep my gun up. The concussion wasn't like I'd expected it to be, it compounded rather than just repeat the same.. Each shot got was like being punched in the eardrum twice as hard each time. After that..

In a quiet room, it sounds like the loudest thing in the world.


I find it to be useful every now and then for counteracting my ADD when I'm in a classroom environment. Never been a big fan of enclosed rooms full of sick people and hours of awkward silence so it helps me focus on something consistent.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Navy Pill????

Pete F--

Look up and get an order of the Navy Hearing pill. its not a joke, but a tested and proven way to improve damaged ears

Could you please give a little more detail on this? It's the first I've ever heard of something that could (?) actually help damaged hearing.

My exposure to loud sounds is different--Besides having been a shooter since my teens, I refereed soccer for several summers, back when I had knees that could run. In addition to the soccer ref's usual black shirt and shorts, I wore a football ref's black baseball cap to keep sun out of my eyes--guess who got the greatest "benefit" from my Acme Thunderer??!!! After 3-4 games of soccer on a Sat, my ears would ring loudly until about the following Wed, then settle down to my "normal" ringing.

I sure as heck WOULD wish tinnitis on my worst enemy. He deserves it.

 

[Dorryn]

I dont know when or where I got tinnitis. Ive never been to a doctor about it... I can only assume that the permanent ringing in my ears is the same things. It may have been in the USMC with all the range time (although I always wore those crappy earplugs). Maybe blanks. Maybe the occasional rock concert as a child. Im not really sure. All I know is the ringing has never gone away and has been ringing for years.

 

[makarovnik]

I went to a Curtis Salgado concert in the Ballard Firehouse in the early 90's. My ears have been ringing ever since. I don't mind the hearing loss as much as the ringing. To me it sounds like high speed dental drills in my ears. I remember it was so loud that I tore off cigarette butts and stuck them in my ears. I was stupid. I should have left. Should I have sued the Ballard Firehouse or Curtis Sagado? Strange thing is my wife had ringing for about 24hrs but then it went away. I feel bad for the employees there.

There is a website dedicated to tinitus but they say there is no real treatment except for the MP3 player and/or whitenoise. Some doctors say a hearing aid can help. My GP thought that was BS but my ENT said it could help. I think in the next ten or twenty years they will be able to treat it. They need to turn off the cells that are damaged and causing the ringing.

Many people take valium. Sometimes you can't treat something so you just make your brain so it doesn't care.

Weeeee...

 

[Walkalong]

After years of working around noise and some, thankfully not a lot, of shooting without ear protection in my youth, I have some tinnitus. It is sometimes and faint in my left ear, but much more often and varied in my right ear. Some nights when it is quite it is very annoying and you just hope it is not here to stay and will mostly tone way back down like it usually does. It seems like stress makes it worse or if my sinuses are real clogged up.

Bottom line. Wear ear protection, and that means at work as well when you are in high noise areas. Time subjected to noise as well as the severity all adds up over time. All the old timers I know who worked in mills or other places where they were around loud but not necessarily "hurting" type noises are all dang near deaf now. I'm not far behind.

 

[Soybomb]

NRR 30 plugs with NRR 20 muffs will give you an effective NRR 45 (add plugs and muffs, then subtract 5).

Fwiw according to OSHA, it doesn't work this way. The OSHA guideline is that you get to add 5dB of NRR to the highest rated protection device with the addition of a second one. For example wearing plugs rated 33nrr and muffs rated 30nrr give a total nrr of 38dB.

 

[thebaldguy]

I have mild ringing in the ears from time to time. I tragically know lots of people who have suffered hearing loss - myself included. Most of it was preventable with the exception of my girlfriend's brother who got an eardrum blown out by an IED in Iraq.

Loud music/concerts, shooting, and power tools are the usual causes. I have worn earplugs at live shows now for 15+ years now, but I think the damage had been done 20+ years ago. I have always used ear protection for shooting, and always keep extra plugs for someone else who may need them.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to hearing loss.

 

[C96]

Greg - Did the doc tell you to avoid ALL loud noises for the next two or three months ?

I had an industrial accident many years ago and the ear doc told me to do everything possible to minimize my noise environment for the next couple of months. That this MIGHT help your ear recover a little bit.

My ear measured a little better a year later. I don't know if trying to minimize the noise helped or not.

You might ask him soon if you can. There's not much out there to help, anything that can minimize the damage is a good thing.

 

[Greg All Calibers]

Thanks for the encouraging words. I did check with the doctors again and another hearing test verified I am up to 40dB lower in frequencies over 4kHz. Feels like my ear is numb and very full. The ringing (tinnitus) comes and goes.

I attached the hearing test results.

- I am avoiding loud sounds
- The doctor prescribed a Medrol pack (steriod). This helps some people.
- I am trying the Navy Pill as one poster suggested.

Rgds, Greg

 

[Darthbauer]

I've shot alot w/o my ears in and they only ring for a bit when Im at the range but it goes away after a bit. On about a par with the volume turned up all the way on my ipod.

 

[ThomasT]

When i was 17 a kid threw a water ballon at me and hit my right ear. It blew out my eardrum. I have almost no hearing in that ear. Both ears ring and squeal constantly.

I have read that reducing your caffene intake and staying away from aspirins will help. That is the end of my advice.

 

[gamboolman]

Grew up shooting a lot - no hearing protection.
Millions of firecrackers as a kid.
Screming motorcycle's
Tools, engines, the normal stuff of boys and young men.
Loud music

30 years in the oilfield - screaming engines, compressors, high pressure gas flowing,etc.

Tinnitus - the dayum ringing is there 24/7

There is no cure from all of the doctors and research I have done.

Let he who can still hear - Take care of your hearing - you are not special and will damage your hearing.

 

[mike6161]

I m 17 and have hearing lose in my lift ear and ringing that will not stop. i always wore ear protection.
Now I have muff and plugs hope they work better then just the old plugs

 

[GunTech]

I just had my hearing test today. I am 50 dB down in my left ear and only slightly better in my right. High range frequency loss is typical of gunshot and other sudden noise damage. While I almost always wear hearing protectors, I don't while hunting and didn't when young. Time spent as an Infantry officer probably didn't help.

I only have very occasional ringing, but I have trouble hearing some peoples' voices and certain words and phonemes. I'll be getting a digital hearing aid for my left ear - to the tune of about $1300.

BTW, I am 45. The tester told me she is seeing lots of 20 somethings - mostly male - who are showing significant hearing loss thanks to loud music. Something to think about for all you youngsters.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

My hearing loss is both hereditary and idiocy. While my family suffers from nerve deafness, I also used firearms without hearing protection as a kid and young adult. Luckily, as a kid at least, it was both .22 rifles and outside with a lot of land around me. Some, but very little range time was involved. (outdoor, but close quarters) And firecrackers were always a part of my childhood, also, along with a Sonic Blaster (~140dB). Now, I miss the hearing I destroyed, and cherish the hearing I have left. I wonder what a Magnaported .45-70 Contender measures. Too much for me, in more ways than one, in a indoor range for sure. I use plugs of 35dB NRR and muffs of 29dB NRR at all times of shooting and must wear plugs at work, also. An annual hearing test shows that I haven't abnormally lost any hearing since my baseline in this building in 1997. Once it was somewhat improved over previous years, so apparantly, you can regain small amounts of hearing. Tinnitus, however, is an annoying part of my life for the last 20 or so years, though, as was said, comes and goes in intensity. Plugs and muffs, I can't stress that enough. Though I wish I had taken my own advice 40 years ago.

 

[hso]

Soybomb is correct. Adding the NRR of plugs and muffs and then subtracting 5dB to get an effective NRR is out of date advice (I should know, since it was the rule of thumb we used for years until the maxNRR+5 rule of thumb came out).

Remember that ear plugs must fit well down into the ear canal to be effective and that muffs must be in good condition.

Try to wear shooting glasses with wire ear pieces or with straps instead of the more common large plastic ear pieces. Wear your ear muffs the way they were designed to be worn. If they are over-the-head or behind-the-head types then only wear them that way. Keep cap and hat material out from under the ear pads. The pads should fit against your head without sandwiching ear or material between the pad and your head.

The U.S. military does not have a pill to treat hearing loss. In other words, there is no "Navy Pill". If there was the company that produced it would be advertising it all over the place. Current treatments involve the use of steroids.

 

[harmonic]

Fwiw according to OSHA, it doesn't work this way.

You need to read the entire article instead of concentrating on the first thing with which you disagree.

Next paragraph,

(Note: some question the credibility of the above formula. They say instead you take the higher of the two and add 5 dB to that. 30 plug with 20 muff gives an effective NRR of 35 not 45.)

 

[Big Boomer]

Welcome to the club! Not really...

It SUCKS to have hearing loss, I have permanent tinnitus as well have had it since about 16 when I did not know what hearing protection was at all.

I'm legally deaf, whatever that means. I have like 95% loss in one ear and 93% in another (don't remember which is which).

I can't afford hearing aids, and they tell me that they most likely won't help that much anyhow.

I can't hear cell phones ring, birds chirp, flutes play (or most instruments of a higher octave), scary one is smoke detectors don't exist in my life, most any alarm, creaking, clicking, squeaking things. It's a pretty quiet life...oh if it weren't for that damn ringing! It's like someone put a firecracker to your ear and the ringing just never stopped. Some days it's so bad it'll drive you mad, others you don't really notice it's there until you think about it (like now).

I hope that yours is able to repair itself but you never know what it's like till it's gone. Music is bland, no crickets or frogs singing their melody at night (my wife has to tell me about it when we sit on the porch), the sound of the wind rustling through the tree's, the sound of raindrops pitter patting on the roof or the light splashing sounds they make on the ground. All these things just a memory to me, I am not sure If I even remember them right.

It's sort of like trying to remember the voice of a long lost loved one, remembering their voice but thinking that it's just not quite right but never being able to hear it again.

The sounds of fingers against the sheets, or the sizzle of the grill while you cook, these are just a few small things that you will miss. I have to say one of the biggest losses is not being able to hear the birds chirp on a beautiful spring day. You walk outside and see movement and life all around but it's just mostly silent almost like being a living ghost knowing something is missing.

Hunting takes on a new meaning when you are trying to stalk prey and your buddy is yelling at you to be quiet and you have absolutely no idea what they are talking about! The cracking of twigs beneath your feet, the rustle of branches against your clothing, only the sound of your own breathing is what is heard in your ears.

Life goes on, yes, but it's so much sweeter with sound! Wear your hearing protection, double up! Do your friends a favor make them wear them as well, even if it's out on a hunt.

 

[oklahoma caveman]

most young people think it cant or wont happen to them.iv been shooting since i aws 6yr old. actively hunting for the family since 8. im 21 now and already have a permanent ringing

 

[JohnBT]

"(I did not know that hearing devices cost so much money)"

All of them don't. My father just paid cash for 2 behind-the-ear units and paid right at $1600 for the pair. These are analog units that can provide the massive amplification that he requires and he bought them from a qualified/trained/certified/licensed/etc. outfit and not one of the joints that have the terrible reputations.

His nearly 10-year-old digital units with considerably more tunable frequencies, but not as much amplification, cost him about $4000/pair. And they produced a more natural sound than the B-T-Ear units.

Yes, they're expensive, but there are options depending on what you need and what you can afford.

John

 

[PILMAN]

When I was young, my dad was fieldstripping his gun or something and I guess he fired the gun, I was sitting on the couch next to him at the time in the house. He shot a hole through the ceiling and my ears were ringing like crazy. That was about 13 years ago.

Also when I learned to first shoot a handgun, that was out on the range in 2005 and I didn't wear earplugs, my ears were ringing. Now I always wear earplugs

I still hear a slight ringing and my hearing has certainly become worse when it's really quiet. Sometimes have to have someone repeat something. It was my own fault for being stupid but now I will preserve what hearing I have left by wearing ear muffs.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Aw, gosh...

Big Boomer--You nailed it. And so poignantly--I hope all our young "immortal" members pay attention to what you wrote! Nice work--I wish you didn't have the necessary experience to write it, but what is, is.

C'mon, Darth Bauer, read the other posts from members whose ringing did not "just go away!!" Yours won't go away either.

I know, I know, kids are kids, and youth is wasted on the young. There was a time when I thought nothing could possibly get me, too.

One more time: Young Guys, this is The Voice Of Experience. This is Your Own Future Talking here: HEARING LOSS IS GRADUAL, CUMULATIVE, AND INCURABLE. Was that loud enough to get past your I-pod???

 

[Markbo]

It doesn't come back. Ever. If you have ever shot without hearing protection - even a .22 - and have ringing you have damaged your ears.

Imagine banging your thumb every day with a hammer. The first one sucks, the rest aren't so bad because it is already numb. But the damage DOES continue to get worse.

For me it's not the birds and crickets and treefrogs. It is the near impossibility to hear people's voices clearly. NObody ever speaks clearly. Everyone mumbles. I tell loved ones all the time "I can't listen any harder... can you PLEASE speak a little louder?". Then they yell. And I feel like a total schmuck.

People tell me to be quiet it movie theaters and restaurants. If I go out to dinner at a restaurant I am always very aware of where I must sit depending on who I want to hear, because I can't hear everyone.

And hearing aids are not a choice yet. First they are prohibitively expensive and my ENT has told me I won't benefit fully from them. I am right on the borderline of them being useful. Not to say I will even like them. I know quite a few fellahs who got them and then don't use them because of the noise.... the background noise to offensive and it hurts and they STILL can't hear where they want to most - in that range of the human voice.

Ironic, isn't it? That range that is most important is where we lose the most and loud noises really hurt bad.

Use electronics when hunting. Heck I keep a foam pair around my neck. I just won't shoot unless I have something in or on. Don't be a schmuck like me. Double up.