Hearing loss from the range trip today?

[Potatohead]

Hey all,
went to the range at 5 am this morning, sighting scope on my AR15, pulled trigger for first shot and oops, earplugs were kind of half in and half out. And i didnt have the earmuffs on either like i usually do. Didnt hurt but im hoping i did no damage. It feels like my ears are popping (like when you are driving up a mountain or are on an airplane) but wont "unpop" when i swallow. I dont really notice any hearing loss. I know you guys arent ear doctors (well, maybe some of you are) but my question is: Sometimes after firing a loud rifle, is your head ever kind of "concussed" for a bit of time afterwards (headache/ears popping)..without necessarily receiving hearing damage? Hopefully thats what this is....

I saw a thread it seems where someone mentioned they feel pretty rocked after shooting a 50 cal (i know thats a big difference)

 

[beatledog7]

Probably no lasting damage. Hearing loss is a cumulative thing.

 

[Potatohead]

thx. actually, 10 minutes after i posted thread, my left one kind of "popped". Much better now, but not quite right. im new to this so ize just wondering bout it

 

[Reloadron]

It feels like my ears are popping (like when you are driving up a mountain or are on an airplane) but wont "unpop" when i swallow.

Try pinching off nose and blowing nose till the ears pop and get pressure equalization. While I never had the effect from a bang it works fine when landing with blocked ears.

Ron

 

[Lex Luthier]

I like to challenge the tiny hairs in my cochlea to remain operational.

Between standing in the direct field of guitar amps, managing a large and extremely loud shop full of loud power tools, and of course making things go bang, my ears get a whooping almost daily. I have learned to be aware of the relative decibel levels everywhere I go and ALWAYS keep earplugs handy. I even wear them at the movies since they are so fricking loud.

One time a newbie jerk kid dropped a heavy pallet onto the the stack about three feet away from me. I swear it was like my Sig going off right by my ear. He received a proper upbraiding for his negligence. Dudes drop dock plates unnecessarily all the time too. I wonder if there isn't something euphoric/ addictive about intense aural compression.

If you are a young man reading this, USE EAR PROTECTION, even if you think you're some kind of tough guy. I'll shut up now. God bless.

 

[YZ]

Hey all,
went to the range at 5 am this morning, sighting scope on my AR15, pulled trigger for first shot and oops, earplugs were kind of half in and half out. And i didnt have the earmuffs on either like i usually do. Didnt hurt but im hoping i did no damage. It feels like my ears are popping (like when you are driving up a mountain or are on an airplane) but wont "unpop" when i swallow. I dont really notice any hearing loss. I know you guys arent ear doctors (well, maybe some of you are) but my question is: Sometimes after firing a loud rifle, is your head ever kind of "concussed" for a bit of time afterwards (headache/ears popping)..without necessarily receiving hearing damage? Hopefully thats what this is....

I saw a thread it seems where someone mentioned they feel pretty rocked after shooting a 50 cal (i know thats a big difference)

Head
First, thank you for not coming up with a snazzy signature line. There is no lack of borrowed wisdom around here.

You did not mention the terrain. Sometimes even a slight uphill move produces clogged ears. That is from the air pressure behind the eardrum, but not a hearing loss. A sudden pop afterwards is felt when the pressure is again equalised.
Transient hearing loss after exposure to very loud noise is normal, in a sense that it is expected. The damage is indeed cumulative. Short term loss is usually not felt but can be detected by testing. Unless you are playing a concert next day, nobody will notice, but again watch it long term.
I am not an ear doctor.

 

[Potatohead]

I like to challenge the tiny hairs in my cochlea to remain operational.

Between standing in the direct field of guitar amps, managing a large and extremely loud shop full of loud power tools, and of course making things go bang, my ears get a whooping almost daily. I have learned to be aware of the relative decibel levels everywhere I go and ALWAYS keep earplugs handy. I even wear them at the movies since they are so fricking loud.

One time a newbie jerk kid dropped a heavy pallet onto the the stack about three feet away from me. I swear it was like my Sig going off right by my ear. He received a proper upbraiding for his negligence. Dudes drop dock plates unnecessarily all the time too. I wonder if there isn't something euphoric/ addictive about intense aural compression.

If you are a young man reading this, USE EAR PROTECTION, even if you think you're some kind of tough guy. I'll shut up now. God bless.

oh man! i work around dock plates and pallets too. You are right- A dropped pallet is REALLY LOUD, especially the blue ones (Chep brand)...scares the crap outa me everytime

 

[Potatohead]

thx yz

 

[GBExpat]

my question is: Sometimes after firing a loud rifle, is your head ever kind of "concussed" for a bit of time afterwards (headache/ears popping)..without necessarily receiving noticeable hearing damage?

Yes ... o'course, someone will probably respond and say that ALL such instances leave permanent damage, so allow me to amend your quote as noted.

I am still a bit surprised that I am not deaf, or close to it, after all of the shooting that I did over many years with no hearing protection at all. My hearing is still excellent.

O'course, there is the example of my old friend, Jerry. He was a city boy who was unfamiliar with firearms so, during the Carter administration, I brought him with me on a trip to my maternal Grandparents' farm (where I now live). We burned thru hundreds of rounds of old Besa MG ammo (along with beaucoup .38, .357, .45) and a good time was had by all.

Unfortunately, to this day, AFAIK, he has a ringing in his ears (tinnitus?) from that trip.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Probably no lasting damage.

Absolutely false, The average firearm is around 160 decibels a one time exposure will cause permanent (however slight) hearing loss

Hearing loss is a cumulative thing.

This is true but it means that each exposure will cause the damage to get worse. I am 48 years old and have suffered significant hearing loss and I assure you once it's gone it's gone

Yes ... o'course, someone will probably respond and say that ALL such instances leave permanent damage, so allow me to amend your quote as noted.

That would be me and the reason I say it is because I live with it everyday and I would love to save those who don’t from the experience

 

[Lost Sheep]

Probably no lasting damage. Hearing loss is a cumulative thing.

I disagree with the first part of that statement. Sorry.

(GBExpat, you beat me to it, so I will just reiterate.)

Yes, hearing loss is cumulative.

If you experienced hearing "confusion" and have ringing in your ears, your hearing is damaged. Over a few days or weeks you will recover most of the immediately-lost hearing, but not 100%. The loss (after a week or so) will be immeasurable, but if you do this often enough (like, one time a month for a couple of years) the accumulation will be measurable.

Recent research indicates that adrenalin has a protective effect, but this is very small and not completely understood yet.

Lost Sheep

 

[GBExpat]

Yes ... o'course, someone will probably respond and say that ALL such instances leave permanent damage, so allow me to amend your quote as noted.

That would be me and the reason I say it is because I live with it everyday and I would love to save those who don’t from the experience

Save away (sorry to hear about your condition, btw) ... I answered his specific question.

I have been careful to wear both sight & hearing protection for many years, now.

 

[beatledog7]

Trunk Monkey, Lost Sheep:

You guys are splitting hairs. One gun shot at normal shooter distance does not cause zero damage, as you noted, but the amount of damage is, as was also noted, immeasurable. The acute effects fade, and you're back to 99.999% of where you were.

Of course continual exposure will cause damage: measurable damage. These two facts are exactly why we don't do range work without our ears on and why we don't get in a panic over needing to make an SD shoot without them.

 

[hso]

without necessarily receiving hearing damage

No, you've received some damage, but it might not be noticeable in the long run or it might be minor enough to recover if it is truly insignificant.

You should take a strong anti-inflammatory for the next day or so.

 

[YZ]

No, you've received some damage, but it might not be noticeable in the long run or it might be minor enough to recover if it is truly insignificant.

You should take a strong anti-inflammatory for the next day or so.

What kind of strong anti-inflammatory are you suggesting?

 

[Sentryau2]

My cousin decided to pull the trigger on my sig m400 while having the muzzle around 12 inches from my ear (didnt have ear plugs in ) I had my ears ring for about a week and they would pop off and on for about 3 days and then 6-8 days later I woke up and felt normal. If it didnt hurt so bad he would have got a boot to the rear end I no longer get mad when elders ask the same question 3 times because they cant hear the answer, because I now know how they feel. So I dont think one or two incidents without ear plugs will cause damage. My only other incident similar to this was a saiga 12 and me not wearing any ear plugs because I didnt feel like it, after the 3rd shot I regretted it, but it still was no where near as bad as with the ar.

 

[hso]

If it happened to me I'd take a prescription dose of ibuprofen or naproxen right away if I didn't have a steroid dose pack available.

I'm the safety manager for a large technical organization with employees working in offices, shops, and on construction sites. I've been at this professionally for over 20 years. Loud noises cause damage to hearing. That damage is cumulative. If you can prevent damage on a case by case basis by consistently using hearing protection you can reduce the cumulative damage and avoid having noticeable hearing loss or the constant ringning of tinnitus. It is important for us to keep in mind that by the time we notice the hearing loss others have noticed it for quite a while. Anyone that treats noise exposure in a cavalier manner is simply ill informed and shouldn't be making recommendations that put others at risk.

 

[Potatohead]

thanks trunk

 

[Potatohead]

If you experienced hearing "confusion" and have ringing in your ears, your hearing is damaged

the former but not the latter...almost 12 hrs later...dang

 

[mljdeckard]

I have been VERY lucky over the years, in between being a tank crewman and going to a LOT of rock concerts unprotected, my hearing is still better than average. There are much worse guns on your hearing than an AR, but still loud enough to justify protection. One shot might cause damage, but not necessarily enough that you will perceive it.

HSO's suggestions make a lot of sense.

 

[Potatohead]

If it happened to me I'd take a prescription dose of ibuprofen or naproxen right away if I didn't have a steroid dose pack available.

I'm the safety manager for a large technical organization with employees working in offices, shops, and on construction sites. I've been at this professionally for over 20 years. Loud noises cause damage to hearing. That damage is cumulative. If you can prevent damage on a case by case basis by consistently using hearing protection you can reduce the cumulative damage and avoid having noticeable hearing loss or the constant ringning of tinnitus. It is important for us to keep in mind that by the time we notice the hearing loss others have noticed it for quite a while. Anyone that treats noise exposure in a cavalier manner is simply ill informed and shouldn't be making recommendations that put others at risk.

thx hso. im still wobbly headed so i will take some ibuprofen now. Maybe i should let my doc know so i can have some on hand if it happens again? Will that make the damage less, or just make me more comfortable?

 

[hso]

There are studies out of the Army suggesting that a prescription dose of steroid within 30 minutes overexposure to noise has a beneficial effect in reducing the threshold shift that indicates hearing damage.

I have seen nothing in the past few years building on that study, but as long as there's no other reason not to take the medication I'd use it.

Of course, the best approach is to never, ever, shoot without making sure that you have both plugs and muffs safely in place.

 

[ID-shooting]

Hearing loss is defiantely cumulative. I shudder to think what all the AC/DC, Metallica, and others did to my ears in the 80's. Most single trauma will clear in a day or two. I am not aware of HSO's study but will seek out the audiologist on Monday and ask him.

Carefull there HSO, hitting that gray area of giving medical advice without a license.

 

[hso]

And that's why I've been careful to say that if it were me I'd act in a particular way as opposed to telling anyone to take X, especially since I haven't seen anything recently building on the Army steroid study.

There are various "snake oil" ads out there claiming to restore lost hearing or "cure" tinnitus, but no medication has been shown to prevent or treat hearing damage in a reputable occupational medical journal. The best we can do is protect our hearing each and every time we go shooting or use noisy equipment.

 

[Walkalong]

I have suffered hearing loss both from shooting without ear protection when young (And ignorant), and from work noise. I also have a bit of tinnitus. I wish some one like hso had beat hearing protection into me 30 or 40 years ago.

Today I strive to keep what I have and keep the tinnitus from getting worse.

Please protect your hearing. You'll thank folks later, or regret you didn't listen.