How many rounds does it take to permanently damage your hearing?

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It's cumulative thing. So this time it was 30 rounds or so & maybe your hearing recovers. But next time & the time after that, you'll notice it either takes longer to recover or your hearing is just not what it use to be.
Get your self some plugs, your hearing is well worth the 99 cents ;)
 
I have fired a gun quite a few times without hearing protection, due to foolishness in my youth, but suffered no appreciable hearing loss from it according to subsequent hearing tests. I think it depends on a number of factors, including the surroundings and their acoustical properties.
 
I shot a good ammount when I was in my early teens without hearing protection, like most in my age group. My wife is SURE I'm stone deaf...but I think its selective...to a point. :D I do remember a particular incident, (early '70s) when a friend fired a .38 that left my ears ringing and hurting for a full day, but I don't ever remember a problem from hunting...even though several rounds had been fired. Perhaps being the one behind the gun, or the difference between shotgun and pistol? Either way, I'm careful to wear protection now when target shooting. Still don't while hunting.
Mark.
 
All it takes is one.

Unless you have a hearing test BEFORE the noise exposure, you can't tell if your hearing has been damaged.

Before taking up shooting, my hearing was much better than normal. I have some interesting equipment in the lab where I work, and I was able to verify that I could hear frequencies way up past what is generally considered "normal."

Even though I have always worn hearing protection, exposure to shooting noise and other noises has degraded my high-frequency hearing considerably.

BTW, plugs are not as effective as muffs, regardless of the NRR number. A significant amount of noise is transmitted into the ear canal via the mastoid bone behind the hear. I used to shoot on indoor ranges using exclusively plugs and I suspect that's the major reason I've experienced so much loss even though I've always used protection.

These days, when shooting outdoors, I wear muffs. When shooting indoors, I wear plugs AND muffs.

And there's no blaming this on genetics. None of my parents or grandparents have experienced significant hearing loss with age.

With today's electronic hearing protectors, there is no excuse for not wearing hearing protection.
 
Unless you have a hearing test BEFORE the noise exposure, you can't tell if your hearing has been damaged.
Click to expand...

Actually I did. I had hearing tests for the military before I did the unprotected shooting.
 
"That, plus 6 years of Band in jr high through college left me with 100% hearing in my right ear and 90% in my left."

I think your attention span was the real casualty, Chris... :)



Whenever I shoot now days I normally double up, but since I wear glasses, it's a real pain using muffs.
 
I have had two bad experiences. One was an ND with a 3" .357 many years ago in small room. It took several days for the hearing in my left ear to get back to somewhere approaching normal. About a year or so later, I shot a round off in a ported 10mm and got a ring in my left ear for a few hours after forgeting to put the plugs back in.

Nowdays, I always wear protection and often double up with plugs and muffs.

I don't have any ringing in my ears, but I sometimes feel some "white noise" in the left ear that goes away after a while.
 
Hearing damage is cumulative. Once you cause a certain amount of damage, you will have that amount of damage for the rest of your life. It doesn't heal. And I don't know of any medical cures, currently, for hearing loss.
 
Sigh...

As someone who was born with minor hearing loss and who doesn't want to lose any more, reading all these posts makes me so angry that the sound suppressor was so demonized and became a "controlled" product.
:banghead: :cuss:
If I recall correctly, it was designed in the first place for the very issue of protecting hearing. And those stupid hollywood movies don't help either, perpetuating the silly "silencer" myths
 
I've had regular ringing in the ears since I was a teenager, and let me tell you, there are times when it is /extremely/ irritating. Today it's been more noticable than usual, and as I look over the five cans of Diet Pepsi I've had today, I think I've finally determined one of my aggravating factors...caffeine. I think I'll try to go a week without my Diet Pepsi or any other caffeine-laced product.

I've fired a pistol on two occasions without ear protection, outdoors, and regretted it - and that was just a 9mm! I fell prey to the usual cause: curiousity. What's it sound like? Well, ever since then, I've used proper ear protection. It's really not worth finding out unless you have no other choice.
 
Regarding Shatner and Nimoy:

Shatner and Nimoy both have tinnitus. Shatner actively supports research on the issue.

As Shatner tells the story, both he and Nimoy may have acquired the problem at the same time.

We are both standing around an explosive device on a "Star Trek" film, and it - it prepared and went off. And I guess I must have been standing here, because I have it in my left, and he has it in his right ear. The volume of sound is not so important as your ability to accept it and - and not - not panic.
Click to expand...

The panic Shatner referred to is what led him to contemplate suicide at one time. This is a very serious problem that many people suffer from.

Use protection.
 
FWIW....

I have read that, anytime your ears "ring", they have been damaged, even if it stops after some period of time. This is the distortion of the ear drum that happens during typical noises, except the ear drum has been stretched so hard that it can't recover immediately

at some point, they never recover, never quit ringing, and that's permanent damage

how many shots???

Like they say at the nursing home...."Depends"

excessive pressure of the sound waves distorts and tears the ear drum.

More pressure + more time + frequency (either # of times or higher frequency) = more damage

If you were facing someone shooting, you'd have less damage than it you were facing the target with your ear directly toward the noise source. Your open ear directly toward the source allows the pressure pulse to hit your ear drum squarely.
 
Another one suffering from tinnitis.

Too many years around airplanes and forgetting to put plugs in.

Both ears have had a shift in my baseline when taking a hearing test.

If it gets any worse the Air Force might cross train me.

I wear ear protection all the time now. Even when Im hunting. Still use solid type plugs but am gonna get some of them Walkers Game ear or something to that effect.
 
First of all, thanks for reminding me to listen to the ringin'. I don't notice it much unless I think about it or someone brings it up. Sheeeesh.

Although there is thing that will help. Try taking a trip to Scotland or Ireland or Tennessee. Shots taken while on that trip will lessen the ringin' and enhance the smilin'.

:D :D
 
You guys might try and find a Test CD at a record store.

The one I have has 99 tracks - many of them are tones at specific frequencies.

I was pretty happy to find that I could hear the 16000 Hz tone and barely hear the 17000 Hz tone.

My dad (shot a lot as a kid - .22s, probably with no protection) has roll off around 12000 Hz and cant hear anything in the 14000 range or higher.

Most human speech is 5000 Hz and below - actually the 1000-3000 range is probably the bulk of it. Telephones are designed to send only sound roughly in the range of the human voice.

I went to too many concerts as a young buck - would do it again, but with plugs :p

edit: by the way - use the CD on a semi decent stereo - super cheapo ones maky not be able to produce beyond 15000 or so - I did it in my car which used to do 30Hz-20kHz before I got ripped off :(
 
I've got very mild tinnitus... it comes maybe once a week to either ear and vanishes in 15 minutes. I started noticing after the military... although a couple of years of heavy metal drumming before that probably are more to blame. Now I'm more into the blues...

In the army I went thru a couple of exercises as loader for the 95mm recoilless AT rifle. It shakes the 5h1t out of one, the noise measured one meter away from the bolt exceeds 170 decibels. Muffs+plugs+arms on top offer only partial help.

The tinnitus is godawful, even the very short bits I get. If it were permanent, I wouldn't know what to do. So I've been carrying a set of foam plugs everywhere for the last ten years. I've had to cut back on singing as I got tinnitus from my own voice... no kidding. Lots of practice on loud material and a good placement of the voice in the head will do that. And you can't protect yourself as it rings inside the (obviously quite vacant) head.

Hearing loss and related tinnitus are irreversible. Any damage you've got will never heal. I don't want to lose the music.
 
Hehe this tread reminds me of the time a bunch of us went shooting and one of the guys decided to look into my spotting scope. The ear muffs were parallel to the muzzle of a .357Mag.:uhoh:
 
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