George P
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I think most of mine came from listening to Jimi Hendrix with headphones at volume 9 for 4 years in college.......
Hearing loss and issues from firearms?
- Thread starter Trey Veston
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I'm 42. When I was 35 I went to the Costco hearing aid booth and got a test. I'm down 15 dB in the left ear and 20 dB in the right. It is the middle ranges and enough that making out conversations in a restaurant is difficult.
Causes - stupidity of youth.
Advice to young people? - WEAR YOUR HEARING PROTECTION! I stress this with the new engineers and co-ops that interact with at work. I tell them it doesn't matter if the crusty old line supervisors give them crap, wear your ear plugs and wear them right... Most don't.
Causes - stupidity of youth.
- I shot without hearing protection until my mid-20's. The most damaging single incident I can think of was when I sighted in my new slug gun at 14. I was shooting 3 inch magnum 12 gauge slugs and the first round rang my ears worse than I'd every experienced. I thought about getting some hearing protection but then thought - well my ears are already ringing... and they rang for more than a week.
- I mowed grass during the summer in high school and college. I'd put in my earbuds, crank the volume until I could hear the music over the tractor, and mow for 8 hours.
- When I was 14-15 my brother got some kicking 14 inch sub-woofers for his car. As the youngest in the group I got to sit in the back with my head about 2 feet from them. He shook the rearview mirror off the windshield 3 times.
- In college I worked at the UPS air hub. I'd go out on the flight line at end of shift to marshal out planes without hearing protection. 25 or so turboprops warming up and taxiing out.
- I got my first motorcycle about that time. Again earbuds cranked up so I could hear the music over the open pipe and 80 mph wind
- Then I moved into manufacturing plants. Ear plugs were required for blue-collar workers but not for the engineers out supporting the line. So I didn't wear any.
Advice to young people? - WEAR YOUR HEARING PROTECTION! I stress this with the new engineers and co-ops that interact with at work. I tell them it doesn't matter if the crusty old line supervisors give them crap, wear your ear plugs and wear them right... Most don't.
My little buddy is a Goffin's Cockatoo. He likes to stick his beak in my ear and talk to me. He doesn't scream...thankfully.
Robbins290
Member
Some guy shot next to me saturday with a ported 16" barrel ar15. My hearing was messed up for a day or 2. They still currently hurt (being 3 days later). Hope i did not suffer to much damage. Before that, i had the best hearing they could test for.
Poper
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herrwalther
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Diagnosed with tinnitus in both ears at the tender age of 28. Ironically enough, my hearing loss has been determined to not be significant enough.
bearman49709
Member
Like most here I lost some hearing in the Army and have tinnitus, the VA pays me comp for it.
One of my brothers lost most of his hearing in Viet Nam 98% in one ear and 70 some % in the other, he can't hear anything without hearing aids.
One of my brothers lost most of his hearing in Viet Nam 98% in one ear and 70 some % in the other, he can't hear anything without hearing aids.
George P
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One must remember that ear plugs, while helpful, do not provide total protection. The mastoid bone area around each ear needs protection as well as those bones can transmit harsh vibrations to the middle and inner ear causing hearing loos as well. When I shoot shotguns for clay targets, I wear muffs; when I shoot anything metallic I use plugs and muffs.......
Once it is gone, it is gone...........
Once it is gone, it is gone...........
CapnMac
Member
Not sure they bother to print anything else unless deafer than a post.
OP
OP
Trey Veston
Member
And yet it seems the VA is covering nearly everything else these days. My son-in-law is in the Air Force as a cargo handler and did a tour in Afghanistan at Bagram. He actually complained that the lettuce on his Subway sandwiches was always wilted. He said the VA deemed him being automatically awarded 20% disability due to having to serve in a "harsh environment".
Old Dog
Member
Dang, and I was in Iraq in '04 before we got the Subway on base ...
Most people know noise-induced hearing loss is cumulative, but it can also happen very quickly and with a cause that seems fairly benign.
-- Colt Python. No hearing protection. It was a short barrel. Six shots. Outside in the desert. I had immediate total hearing loss, probably from perforated eardrums. I regained some hearing the next day, but continued to have permanent loss, especially around 4000Hz, even 25 years later. Constant tinitus. Sometimes I get that really loud ringing that comes and goes, but there's a constant low-level whining all the time.
I was pretty young at the time, and still had good hearing. Ever since, I always wore protection for anything loud -- all the loud cars, years and years of really loud motorcycles, concerts, for the chainsaw, mower, I even wear ear pro for the vacuum cleaner. I'm the guy that doubles-up. The good news is it hasn't gotten worse -- according to objective tests at the audiologist.
It can be gone in six shots, maybe even one, and it doesn't take more than an ordinary gun.
-- Colt Python. No hearing protection. It was a short barrel. Six shots. Outside in the desert. I had immediate total hearing loss, probably from perforated eardrums. I regained some hearing the next day, but continued to have permanent loss, especially around 4000Hz, even 25 years later. Constant tinitus. Sometimes I get that really loud ringing that comes and goes, but there's a constant low-level whining all the time.
I was pretty young at the time, and still had good hearing. Ever since, I always wore protection for anything loud -- all the loud cars, years and years of really loud motorcycles, concerts, for the chainsaw, mower, I even wear ear pro for the vacuum cleaner. I'm the guy that doubles-up. The good news is it hasn't gotten worse -- according to objective tests at the audiologist.
It can be gone in six shots, maybe even one, and it doesn't take more than an ordinary gun.
Nope. The VA doesn't work that way. They pay for disabilities. "Harsh environment" isn't a disability. You need to ask to see his decision letter.
On hearing loss. I'm 0% compensated for service related hearing loss. They admit that hearing loss was caused by my service but not to a level where I would be compensated for it.
bassjam
Member
For what it's worth, assuming you have a flatscreen TV, the speakers they have to use to fit are so shallow and move so little air when they move that many people have to turn up the sound pretty loud to hear everything. My hearing is OK and I need to do the same, I struggle to hear voices through the TV speakers and need to turn the sound up louder than my wife does. If you haven't already, invest in a soundbar or an AV receiver with external speakers. You'll be able to listen to the TV with the volume lower, but you'll be able to hear more.
In the 60s and early 70s I did a lot of wood pigeon shooting without ear protection. Also years of working in the concrete repair game, cutting and breaking out concrete without ear protection has left me with impaired hearing.
For years now I've worn ear protection for work, shooting down the range and hunting. I hope i can retain what hearing I have left.
For years now I've worn ear protection for work, shooting down the range and hunting. I hope i can retain what hearing I have left.
M Yaworski
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I'm sure that the guys who made through WWII are crying their eyes out for those poor guys suffering with wilted lettuce.
CoalTrain49
Member
I have hearing loss in both ears. I'm sure some if not most was due to the fact that I lived on a flight line for 4 years (67-71) while in the Navy. We had protection but it was impossible to communicate using a radio with air traffic control and the LSO. The noise level was unbelievable, way over 140db. We had T-28 Trojans with 9 cyl turbo charged engines and straight header exhausts. I was also on an airfield that had F-5's. It was a toss up which was louder. The military does a much better job these days with hearing protection. They have better equipment and training.
I also hunted without ear protection for many years. Never shot at a range without protection tho. I get a small pension from the VA for my hearing loss but I would rather have my hearing back. So would my wife.
I also hunted without ear protection for many years. Never shot at a range without protection tho. I get a small pension from the VA for my hearing loss but I would rather have my hearing back. So would my wife.
Poper
Member
My grandfather lost his entire mess kit, k-rations and everything else in his backpack to a German machine gun in Italy at the battle of Monte Cassino when his squad was opened up on as they topped a small rise and everyone hit the dirt. Apparently the machine gunner thought the bump of his pack sticking up was his head. He also picked up shrapnel in his left leg from a German mortar shell the next day.
I believe Gramps would have loved some wilted lettuce in lieu of his shot to hell K-rations.
OP
OP
Trey Veston
Member
You are correct. It seems he fell prey to a pretty common rumor...
https://www.stripes.com/blogs-archi...ing-the-air-at-kandahar-1.151166#.XrMbIijYrrc
If you’re the type of person who enjoys filling your lungs with crisp, clean air, then Afghanistan would fit your definition of hell on Earth. Rumor is the air quality at Kandahar Air Field is so bad that troops stationed there automatically get a 10 percent disability rating.
Having caught a nasty case of bronchitis in Iraq two years ago, The Rumor Doctor has tremendous sympathy for troops who have to breathe the dust and other nasty stuff in the air downrange, so he decided to investigate.
While no one disputes that air quality in Afghanistan is terrible, you can file the disability rating rumor with other legends about Kandahar Air Field that The Rumor Doctor has already debunked.
“Currently, Kandahar Airfield is not considered an automatic 10 percent disability rating ‘just for being there and breathing the air,’” Maj. Stacy Mosko, preventative medicine officer for the 10th Mountain Division, said in an email.
Mosko also dispelled the notion that you could ever get an automatic disability rating. To get such a rating, troops must have a certified physical problem, and that is only determined after a medical exam, he said.
I don't understand how anyone could "think" they have received VA Disability Compensation. There's a monthly check attached. Either you get it or you don't.
OP
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Trey Veston
Member
The rumor applied to currently serving members of the military.
You can't receive VA Compensation while on active duty. I take it your son-in-law isn't the brightest bulb in the marquee?
OP
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Trey Veston
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He's actually smarter than both of us. Was recently accepted into the cyber warfare program.
I think you are just misunderstanding the issue. There was a rumor that service members serving in Afghanistan would receive an automatic disability rating upon separation of service due to the "harsh conditions", i.e, poor air quality.
It was common enough of a rumor that Stars and Stripes wrote an article about it. I don't see where I claimed that my son-in-law thought active duty members received disability payments, or how you possibly assumed such.
And yet it seems the VA is covering nearly everything else these days. My son-in-law is in the Air Force as a cargo handler and did a tour in Afghanistan at Bagram. He actually complained that the lettuce on his Subway sandwiches was always wilted. He said the VA deemed him being automatically awarded 20% disability due to having to serve in a "harsh environment".
Did you not say this? Awarded is past tense. Meaning he had been awarded 20% disability and compensation from the VA. Something you can't receive while on active duty. You maintain the disability rating but don't get the payment.
To be awarded compensation and disability you have to APPLY for it. You also are going to be required to have an exam. After the VA has reviewed the evidence you will either be approved or denied.
With your statement in the past tense I would have no other option than to know that he had received an award of some kind. However that award could not be due to "harsh conditions".
Apparently he's not smart enough to understand the VA compensation and disability process. BTW, my ASVAB score was 99.9%.
entropy
Member
Sure it wasn't 99.9? It's not expressed as a percentage. And generally, only the GT score is used. (At least when I was in. It has changed.) Mine was 126.
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