Any of you guys have hearing damage?

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Over 40 years of shooting/hunting with inadequate hearing protection for the first few and none when hunting. Farm equipment also took a toll. But it was that .257 Roberts that went off in the gunrack right by my ear that really did it. Bouncing along a ranch track to check an irrigation well and I wasn't expecting such a very loud and painful noise.
 
I've got hearing damage from working in a server room with over 100 servers howling away constantly. I've got tinnitus and I sometimes have to turn up the volume. I don't have trouble hearing normal conversation, but my ability to discriminate one sound from another is somewhat impaired. Usually a conversation with some background noise is where I have a problem.
 
I have shot in competition and for fun since I was a lad.....always wore hearing protection.
My hearing loss is from open cab tractors with big diesel engines, and other machinery.

Hearing loss is no fun. I am getting pretty good at lip reading though.
 
Exposure to loud noises over time definitely takes its toll. In my case, it was probably machinery and shooting primarily, but almost certainly machinery is the dominant cause.
 
I always double-up on hearing protection at the range. With good passive muffs you can still hear voices. Though even if I were completely deaf I'm sure I'd still hear voices. :uhoh:
 
I can't hear the wife anymore.
THANK GOD ! ! !......................:eek::):):):):)
Deaf in one ear & can't hear out of the other.
 
20 years riding a Firetruck/Medic with a Federal Siren and the fancy new electronic Sirens on over 20 runs a day has taken it's toll. Of course they finally started making us wear protection recently. Doesn't help with all the years of hunting and shooting without protection. About 10 or so years ago while teaching my Son to shoot I figured it was time to set a good example for him. I wonder what it going to happen to this whole generation that walks around 10 hours a day with their I-pod so loud I can hear it! They have no clue what's in store for them later in life.:uhoh:
 
kids will be....BOOM!

When I was about 7 years old I was watching from just inside the open 16' wide garage door bay as my older brother was screwing around making garbage bag bombs using oxy-acet. ( no. we didn't have any parental supervision) and static electricity from the welding table ignited the mix.:fire:
I have suffered tinnitus (ringing in my head) ever since.
If that isn't hearing damage I don't know what is.:confused:
I still haven't forgiven my brother for those bouts of stupidity.:mad:
Oh, it burn't off all the hair on his arms, gave him an unenviable hair cut, plastered him with smoking garbage bag plastic, shook all the dust loose in the garage, scared every wild bird for a half mile or so, left me rolling around on the ground covering my ears,unable to hear for 20 minutes or so.
Bad stuff, garbage bag bombs.
I saw another one go off from static electricity caused by a tractor passing down the road.
Same thing happened to him again.:uhoh:
Not Me, I learn from my mistakes, sometimes.

sorry about all the smileys, they seemed so appropriate. They are kinda fun too.
Yeah, this story is for real. Remember! garbage bag bombs -bad news-
 
http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearing-test/

even on my lap top i can hear to 14K
i use to hear above 20k, but i wasnt 60 than.

silencers are a great idea but i can not afford to buy them for eveyone at the range...

tinnitus came back just reading these posts. i double up always now and insist my daughter does also--for the future. i even wear muffs when mowing/leaf blowing, hammering, using the green bullet eraser and whatever might cause loud or sharp noises.

that ringing is the sound of that frequency dying...its the last you will ever hear sounds in that range.
 
Yes....too many jet engines on the flight line back in the 60s. We did not have muffs back then....The VA keeps me in beer each month because of it...chris3
 
what?

I have been blessed with a fair amount of hearing loss. i can trace it all back to my 20th birthday. one of my close friends rounded me up for a day of shooting and of course we drove the 45 minutes to where we were shooting and had forgotten hearing protection. being young and dumb i said don't worry about it. after the session i couldn't hear anything but a constant ringing.
has quieted down some now but certain pitches don't register and sudden thumps cause pain. so much as a .22 round coming out of my 10/22 makes for a good amount of pain. i have to double up on the hearing protection even shooting rim fire.
sucks but i guess hindsight is always 20/20.
 
Youthful indiscretion resulted in permanent hearing damage for me.

As a 17/18 year HS graduate I entered the South Africa Army and with decent shooting skills was selected to our company shooting team. This was in the late 60's.
Practicing and competition shooting the R1 (FAL clone) on almost a daily basis, with only wax earplugs (and quite often without any plugs!!) has resulted in tinnitus for the past 30+years - no cure - you learn to live with it.

On the plus side, I cannot hear mozzies buzz my head as the tinnitus buzz is constant at about the same pitch
 
Yes. The U.S. Army didn't get serious about hearing protection until the early seventies; by then it was too late.
 
I have been wearing Hearing Aids since in my 40's am 69 now:(

Shooting is the real culprit other loud noise is nothing compared, when you consider the damage a pistol or revolver does, (according to my hearing specialist) I have very good HA's and I am still at a loss to hear well in many conditions...

Ringing in the ears is a given...

Be careful and get good protection and use a lot of caution with your children, damage is permanent:eek:

Yes. The U.S. Army didn't get serious about hearing protection until the early seventies; by then it was too late.
Click to expand...
USMC was not concerned with protection in the 50's and early 60's (when I was in) and LEO was not much better until the 70's like you mention, so my hearing was damaged and never to see daylight again...

Regards
 
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I'm 42 and have been told by the VA that I have Tinnitus (ringing in the ears). It's worse in my right ear and I shoot left handed. Go figure!!! It doesn't bother me till I'm in a no or low noise environment, then it drives me nuts.

The Dove
 
Well, probably the worst thing you did was have the muzzle brake installed!! I'm not a scientist, but now instead of the muzzle blast going straight out, it goes straight out, plus, to the left and right of the shooter! If you have the undesirable occasion to sit next to someone who has a muzzle can on their weapon, especially if its a .300 Win. mag, you'll understand what I mean. My hearing took a nosedive after working a rail crew for 18 years, riding the front of a locomotive, coupling cars together, YEAH, I HEAR YOU!! :what:
 
I must have some as certain words begining with certain letters sound different than intended. Especially on the phone. Makes for some funny answers. :)
 
I've had Tinnitus in both "ears" for many years. The reason I put "ears" in quotes is that Tinnitus is really in your head. It is sounds that the brain creates.

I've often thought that shooting organizations should adopt as their preferred charity the American Tinnitus Association ( http://www.ata.org/ ). This is the only national organization devoted to finding a cure for us.

I've been a member for a long time and there appears to be some promising treatments on the horizon. Please note, however, that there is NO cure for tinnitus right now.

The ads you read or hear for stuff like "Quietus" are all bogus.
 
Maybe a little bit. I remember shooting an old mossberg bolt action shotgun with no hearing protection a few times, and had a headache for two days.


I think loud music has hurt me more than guns though. I shoot .22 rifles without hearing protection sometimes, but never pistols or anything larger than .22.....but only if there's no hearing prot. around. but usually, its always the muffs and/or plugs
 
I've had Tinnitus in both "ears" for many years. The reason I put "ears" in quotes is that Tinnitus is really in your head. It is sounds that the brain creates.
Click to expand...

Wow, I didn't know that. The sounds your brain makes....
 
30+ years of that "hissing" sound, some days are worse than others. Put me in a room with multiple conversations and the TV on and I can't distinguish any of it - use plugs AND muffs - the muffs are important to protect the area around your ear from damaging vibrations transmitted to the middle and inner ear. Gun shots are bad, but you know it and wince when it happens - my damage was from headphones and Jimi Hendrix at volume 9. I wear plugs or muffs when using the lawnmower or pressure washer or anything similar. Wind noise from driving a Motorcycle or a car with the window down is just as bad.

It is NOT something that cures itself or gets better - it only gets worse
 
Ya know, some of the clowns that initially replied here really need to grow-up.

That said, I am sorry to read this, and I Hope you get relief from it.

Hearing loss (of any sort) really sort of defeats the purpose of attempting to protect our Loved-ones, self, home and property, and it is a serious problem.

I know of no certain help for it, aside from the aforementioned things ... here's a Google/Search result: http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...eid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=relief+from+ear-ringing ~~ and I really do wish you success with it.

You "might" attempt some "softening" of your audible environment?

The folks I know with hearing issues seem to continue to turn-up the volume on their TV's etc., which only seems to exacerbate the problem - and then they are going louder and louder with things all the time.

I would suggest just the opposite, and perhaps to try maybe to "train your hearing down" ... this may mean less time "near" the grandkids (maybe more "quiet, Quality-time though?) or whatever, but the other method (increasing the volume, etc.) seems counter-productive - from my humble and unscientific observation(s).

Best to you......
 
I have been wearing ear protection for everything except hunting. I got a hearing test last year and scored better than the average 20 year old kid. Dr says those ipods with those ear buds are going to have the next gen with hearing aids before they are as old as me (45).
 
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