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gunshots don't make my ears ring anymore. bad?
buschmaster
Member Posts: 14,229 ✭✭✭
long time ago, about 20 years, I shot my .22 pistol a lot. occasionally shot a .32, .40, .45 or .357. no earplugs. whenever I did that, after the first shot, I couldn't hear anything for a minute, and my ears rang for 10 minutes or so. it was fun!
haven't shot much since then, and never without hearing protection.
so today, after all these years, I decided to bust off a cap without earplugs for old time's sake. I anticipated not hearing anything for a minute and my ears ringing for 10 minutes, to see what it was like.
well it didn't happen.
it wasn't so loud I couldn't hear. in fact I heard the brass tinkle on the cement. ears rang a little bit for a minute. that was it.
tried it again 20 minutes later. this time my ears didn't even ring.
waited 20 minutes and shot again. the same.
is that bad? does that mean my hearing is damaged and my ears are less sensitive? it doesn't feel like I have hearing loss. plus, I thought when your ears were damaged from loud noises, loud noises make them hurt.
or has my hearing recovered over 20 years, and they can handle loud noises?
or maybe the ammo just wasn't loud enough. it was .40 S&W, 180 grain, relatively low powered at 388 ft-lb. but wouldn't that still be louder than a .22LR? or about as loud as all the other .40 ammo?
I don't know. does anybody know about this stuff?
haven't shot much since then, and never without hearing protection.
so today, after all these years, I decided to bust off a cap without earplugs for old time's sake. I anticipated not hearing anything for a minute and my ears ringing for 10 minutes, to see what it was like.
well it didn't happen.
it wasn't so loud I couldn't hear. in fact I heard the brass tinkle on the cement. ears rang a little bit for a minute. that was it.
tried it again 20 minutes later. this time my ears didn't even ring.
waited 20 minutes and shot again. the same.
is that bad? does that mean my hearing is damaged and my ears are less sensitive? it doesn't feel like I have hearing loss. plus, I thought when your ears were damaged from loud noises, loud noises make them hurt.
or has my hearing recovered over 20 years, and they can handle loud noises?
or maybe the ammo just wasn't loud enough. it was .40 S&W, 180 grain, relatively low powered at 388 ft-lb. but wouldn't that still be louder than a .22LR? or about as loud as all the other .40 ammo?
I don't know. does anybody know about this stuff?
Comments
Protect your hearing no matter what.
I have a 20% hearing loss in my left ear and a 10% hearing loss in my right ear.
Major cause of my loss was inner ear infections while working as a life guard for the Boy Scouts at summer camp.
Then there were loud rock concerts and of course firearm use.
I have lost certain frequency ranges that have effected listening to music, it sucks.
It is difficult to be in a group and have trouble hearing, you get left out of the conversations and often misunderstand what is going on, it sucks.
PROTECT YOUR HEARING AT ALL COST.
EAR PLUGS COST LESS THAN A DOLLAR.
You can never regain hearing loss.
I had bad tinnitus for about 10 years; it faded, but never disappeared completely. I will have it for the rest of my life. It's tolerable, but always there.
Neal
You've probably lost the ability to hear the high frequencies that once made your ears "ring". (The "ringing" itself is a sign of hearing damage, by the way). That's pretty typical of long term shooters who have shot without ear protection.
But instead of guessing about this, I'd strongly urge you to have your hearing professionally tested by an audiologist. This is cheap, (in fact, I think my local Sam's club offers this for FREE), utterly painless, relatively fast, and will give you reliable objective results.
quote:it doesn't feel like I have hearing loss. While some people get permanent "ringing" from hearing loss (ie tinnitus) many don't. Hearing loss doesn't have any associated "feel". That's why its a "loss".
quote:plus, I thought when your ears were damaged from loud noises, loud noises make them hurt.No, the opposite. When your hearing has been damaged from loud noises, new loud noises do NOTHING. . .the injury has already been done and now you're "immune" to them. . .the receptors that "should" be injured are gone.. . you no longer have anything to be injured to cause the pain that you once had.
quote: has my hearing recovered over 20 years, and they can handle loud noises?See above about having your hearing tested professionally.
In GENERAL, while hearing loss due to one-time exposure to loud noises can recover (or partially recover), hearing loss due to repeated exposure to loud noises is PERMANENT.
The hearing "hair cells" in your ears are somewhat like your lawn. If you stomp on the grass once or twice, it will recover, but if you stomp on it frequently, you'll get a bare patch.
quote:maybe the ammo just wasn't loud enough. it was .40 S&W, 180 grain, relatively low powered at 388 ft-lb. but wouldn't that still be louder than a .22LR? or about as loud as all the other .40 ammo?Ordinary .40SW (including your 180 grain rounds) is both louder than .22LR and plenty loud enough to permanently damage the hearing of an unprotected shooter, even with a fairly limited number of shots (that is, assuming they have any hearing left to be damaged).
.22LR, by the way, is fairly variable in terms of noise levels depending both on barrel length and velocity of the round in question. If you're shooting low velocity .22s from a long-barreled rifle (especially shorts or CB rounds), overall noise levels are modest, and you probably could do so safely without hearing protection. But ordinary .22 from a pistol most certainly can damage your hearing, as can louder .22s from a rifle, etc.
The standard is to always wear hearing (and eye) protection when shooting guns (period). That includes .22s.
There may be situations where you can't do so (ie self-defense, war), but those are effectively emergency only, and if you have to trade off some hearing for your life, or that of a loved one, well. . .so be it. I'd strongly advise trying to wear ear protection while hunting too. . .though not every type of hunt is amenable to doing this, many are, and if so, you should.
And really, there is no excuse for not using hearing protection. Excellent foam ear plugs are available at any pharmacy, cost only a few bucks for MANY pairs, and these are light and compact enough to fit into ANY shooting kit.
I personally try to keep at least one pair in EVERY gun case I have. I also stuff them into my shooting bag, and even into spare "nooks" in certain guns (ie AR-15 pistol grip, etc). I've heard of people stuffing a pair into an open cylinder in their revolver (which is kind of cool). You certainly can keep a pair (or several) in any ammo carrier in the space of a round.
I shoot anything else without plugs or muffs, ears ring, fuzzy sounding for a few minutes... if something big it actually hurts.
I'd say yes, you have some damage; but some of it is just stiffening of the tympanic membrane (ear drum) over time from aging.
12% hearing loss here but not from shooting as near as I can tell it is mostly all related to loud machinery over years of exposure including tinitis(ringing).
always shoot with muffs except during hunting seasons so some exposure to noise there but lots of loud machines at places I worked for in 40 years that really caused it, no getting it back so just got to be more aware.
Loud impulse noises do indeed damage your hearing. Period. No if, no but. the and is, and it does not get better.
Busch my friend stop that silliness and get hearing protection each and every time. Good hearing protection.
If I could give you the ringing in my ears, I certainly would, us being such good friends and all.
Beantown- your post should be a stickie.
I wear plugs or muffs when shooting anything without a suppressor. For SOME I wear plugs AND muffs. Also use muffs when running chain saw, weed whacker, riding mower, router, table saw.
When what you have goes away, it will not come back again.
my ear rang very hard, sounded like rushing water, couldn't hear crap for a week, have had tinnitus every since
DONT CHANCE IT
Good electronic protection is expensive, but oh so nice to be able to carry on a conversation and not get BLASTED unexpectedly. Plus when the guy next to you breaks out the big hardware just turn the volume down a little or change to one of the other programs.
When at ROTC Camp in 1958 we shot recoilless rifles (37 mm I believe), 60 mm mortars, and rocket launchers. They were so loud that it was painful to the ears. Someone suggested using cigarette filters as ear plugs. They did help until some bolo pushed the filter in his ear too far. He had to go the post hospital to have it removed. After that an order came down prohibiting using cigarette filters for ear plugs. I still have high frequency hearing loss in one ear and constant ringing in both ears.
I know THOSE are too loud!
since that time, I have never shot a gun without earplugs. I don't have tinnitus.
what must have done it over the last 20 years is all the weed whackers, circular saws, chain saws, nail guns, factory machinery and band practice. I'll wear hearing protection before a lot of people do, but so many times loud noises can't be avoided and it doesn't seem that frikkin loud.
it still doesn't feel like I have hearing loss. I can hear stuff just fine. just... a gun shot doesn't affect me that much anymore...
As part of having my Sport Ears made, we were administered a hearing test. Luckily they said my hearing was excellent except for the frequencies of my wifes voice....
Good electronic protection is expensive, but oh so nice to be able to carry on a conversation and not get BLASTED unexpectedly. Plus when the guy next to you breaks out the big hardware just turn the volume down a little or change to one of the other programs.
can you say ex-pen-sive !!!
got a whole box full of ear plugs used on my last factory job. and muffs. those are good enough.
quote:Originally posted by CaptFun
As part of having my Sport Ears made, we were administered a hearing test. Luckily they said my hearing was excellent except for the frequencies of my wifes voice....
Good electronic protection is expensive, but oh so nice to be able to carry on a conversation and not get BLASTED unexpectedly. Plus when the guy next to you breaks out the big hardware just turn the volume down a little or change to one of the other programs.
can you say ex-pen-sive !!!
got a whole box full of ear plugs used on my last factory job. and muffs. those are good enough.
I have custom in the ear ones as well as some Muff style from Howard Leight. They are under $50 these days at most retailers. Not as comfortable as the in the ear ones, but a whole lot better than the old style muffs.
Invariably I will pull one out or lift the muff trying to hear what someone is saying and BOOM.... I for get I have these in, was almost all the way home last time out and went to scratch my ear.... OOPS... still had them in!
As part of having my Sport Ears made, we were administered a hearing test. Luckily they said my hearing was excellent except for the frequencies of my wifes voice....
Good electronic protection is expensive, but oh so nice to be able to carry on a conversation and not get BLASTED unexpectedly. Plus when the guy next to you breaks out the big hardware just turn the volume down a little or change to one of the other programs.
Fortunately it's not to expensive these days...I have a pair of Howard leight muffs that are very low profile and can amplify low noise while canceling out the loud stuff....very nice when hunting or at the range with a buddy. You can also just turn them off if you want. Around 55 bucks. I'd bet one could find them on auction side.
Not a good sign,,[:(][:(]
long time ago, about 20 years, I shot my .22 pistol a lot. occasionally shot a .32, .40, .45 or .357. no earplugs. whenever I did that, after the first shot, I couldn't hear anything for a minute, and my ears rang for 10 minutes or so. it was fun!
haven't shot much since then, and never without hearing protection.
so today, after all these years, I decided to bust off a cap without earplugs for old time's sake. I anticipated not hearing anything for a minute and my ears ringing for 10 minutes, to see what it was like.
well it didn't happen.
it wasn't so loud I couldn't hear. in fact I heard the brass tinkle on the cement. ears rang a little bit for a minute. that was it.
tried it again 20 minutes later. this time my ears didn't even ring.
waited 20 minutes and shot again. the same.
is that bad? does that mean my hearing is damaged and my ears are less sensitive? it doesn't feel like I have hearing loss. plus, I thought when your ears were damaged from loud noises, loud noises make them hurt.
or has my hearing recovered over 20 years, and they can handle loud noises?
or maybe the ammo just wasn't loud enough. it was .40 S&W, 180 grain, relatively low powered at 388 ft-lb. but wouldn't that still be louder than a .22LR? or about as loud as all the other .40 ammo?
I don't know. does anybody know about this stuff?
quote:Originally posted by buschmaster
long time ago, about 20 years, I shot my .22 pistol a lot. occasionally shot a .32, .40, .45 or .357. no earplugs. whenever I did that, after the first shot, I couldn't hear anything for a minute, and my ears rang for 10 minutes or so. it was fun!
haven't shot much since then, and never without hearing protection.
so today, after all these years, I decided to bust off a cap without earplugs for old time's sake. I anticipated not hearing anything for a minute and my ears ringing for 10 minutes, to see what it was like.
well it didn't happen.
it wasn't so loud I couldn't hear. in fact I heard the brass tinkle on the cement. ears rang a little bit for a minute. that was it.
tried it again 20 minutes later. this time my ears didn't even ring.
waited 20 minutes and shot again. the same.
is that bad? does that mean my hearing is damaged and my ears are less sensitive? it doesn't feel like I have hearing loss. plus, I thought when your ears were damaged from loud noises, loud noises make them hurt.
or has my hearing recovered over 20 years, and they can handle loud noises?
or maybe the ammo just wasn't loud enough. it was .40 S&W, 180 grain, relatively low powered at 388 ft-lb. but wouldn't that still be louder than a .22LR? or about as loud as all the other .40 ammo?
I don't know. does anybody know about this stuff?
Back when I first started shooting, wearing ear protection meant sometimes stuffing some TP wads in my ears. When developing the World Famous Elk Slayer load for my .300 Win Mag, it sometimes meant 30-40 full power shots in an afternoon session.
Now I wear plugs and muffs when shooting, and I wear plugs when mowing the lawn, using the edger, weedeating. About anything that makes noise, I have my ear plugs in.
Now, if someone could get my wife to remember that one simple &^$@*$&^ fact after 25+ years, I would appreciate the Begeezuz out of it. [:(!]