Shooting and tinitus

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Arcticfox

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Hi all. I came down with tinnitus, and I am afraid to shoot, for fear of worsening the problem. I'm curious to know if anyone else has tried shooting with tinnitus, and what the results were.

FYI, while suffering with tinnitus, i wanted to gently test my ears, and I went to an outdoor range to watch a friend, and I wore ear plugs under ear muffs. I stood back away behind everyone. I observed that 45 ACP was slightly irritating, 12 ga didn't really bother me, and .223 was pretty loud.

I'm curious to know if anyone with tinnitus is shooting, and it is not causing the ringing to worsen.

Thanks
 
I also have severe tinnitus; I've had it for many years. If you're wearing snug-fitting silicone earplugs under good ear muffs with a rating of at least 31 NRR, you should be OK. If the gunfire sounds like a muffled pop, that indicates adequate protection.
 
I have tinnitus since years before the first time I ever picked up a gun. For shooting I wear the squishy plugs under electronic muffs and thankfully do not experience any problems.

Re tinnitus in general, eventually your brain will learn to ignore it as long as you don't focus on it.
 
Tinnitus is a symptom of normal hearing loss due to aging. Doesn't have anything to do with shooting. You don't actually 'come down with it' either. You just get it as you age. Mind you, if you haven't already, go see your MD and get your hearing tested.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tinnitus/symptoms-causes/dxc-20180362
Been telling myself it's the mother ship trying to contact me, but I'm not paying attention. snicker.
 
I have moderate to severe tinnitus. It hasn't affected my shooting in the slightest. I notice it mostly when I'm at home trying to enjoy the quietude ... Have jumped out of the shower thinking the phone was ringing ...

I simply invest in high-quality (expensive) electronic shooting muffs (doubled with foam earplugs if shooting indoors or under a covered outdoor range where gunshots are amplified). Non-issue for me; I've just learned to live with it.
 
Arcticfox said:
Hi all. I came down with tinnitus, and I am afraid to shoot, for fear of worsening the problem. I'm curious to know if anyone else has tried shooting with tinnitus, and what the results were.

FYI, while suffering with tinnitus, i wanted to gently test my ears, and I went to an outdoor range to watch a friend, and I wore ear plugs under ear muffs. I stood back away behind everyone. I observed that 45 ACP was slightly irritating, 12 ga didn't really bother me, and .223 was pretty loud.

I'm curious to know if anyone with tinnitus is shooting, and it is not causing the ringing to worsen.

Thanks
Click to expand...


Spent 20 years in US Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal. i also frequently fired high powered rifles without hearing protection. i've been shooting with tinnitus for well over 30 years. My ears ring all the time. i wear hearing protection faithfully.

"Doesn't have anything to do with shooting."

Not so. Shoot without hearing protection and in 5-20 years you will have tinnitus.

https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/tinnitus

  • Noise-induced hearing loss
  • Ear and sinus infections
  • Diseases of the heart or blood vessels
  • Ménière’s disease
  • Brain tumors
  • Hormonal changes in women
  • Thyroid abnormalities

The teenage son of a friend was gifted a .243 Winchester with 16" barrel. He fired 20 rounds without hearing protection. He has nerve damage and can never shoot again.
 
I have tinnitus from a few trips overseas. I'm under 40, so I guess it will get worse as I age. As others have said, I wear 2 sets of hearing protection, molded silicone and earmuffs and I have no problems. You can get the molded silicone kits at Cabelas for pretty cheap. I like them better than "foamies."
 
Sunray said:
Tinnitus is a symptom of normal hearing loss due to aging. Doesn't have anything to do with shooting. You don't actually 'come down with it' either. You just get it as you age. Mind you, if you haven't already, go see your MD and get your hearing tested.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tinnitus/symptoms-causes/dxc-20180362
Been telling myself it's the mother ship trying to contact me, but I'm not paying attention. snicker.
Click to expand...


I don't think this is entirely true. I have tinnitus that hit me suddenly during a severe viral ear infection. I didn't have it prior to this even though I had worked with heavy machinery for years without using hearing protection. I went from having no tinnitus at all to having it severely literally overnight. I was sent to several specialists etc. and was told universally that it was most likely caused by the ear infection and that I would probably have it for the rest of my life. While it has gotten a little better than it was, I still have it and that was nearly 20 years ago. When the house gets quiet, it is almost unbearable.

To the O.P. I have been shooting with tinnitus since I first had it hit me and it has not gotten any worse. I always double up on my ear protection though and I always encourage anyone who doesn't to start.
 
I have it pretty bad, my ENT Dr. makes custom ear plugs for me. That are better than double plugging with off the shelf muffs and plugs. If I use muffs with them I have to use the amplified/noise cancelling ones or I can't hear things I otherwise might need to.
 
I developed Tinnitus over 50 years ago. I was shooting a .357 without hearing protection. I had a bad head cold at the time. There is no cure and the hearing loss increases as we age.
I have never known anyone who was a life long shooters that avoided the condition completely. Did I ever let Tinnitus interfere with my love for shooting? He!! no.:thumbup:
 
I shot for decades, outside, without hearing protection (except for the very rare times that I was at a range) and suffered no tinnitus. I have been using hearing protection almost every time I have been shooting for the last 20 years, or so.

A few months ago while doing some reorg of my late Dad's bedroom, I knocked over the canned-air horn (I got it for him for emergency use) and grabbed it before it hit the floor ... which, unfortunately, triggered a BLAST! OW!

Next day, during a quiet moment, I realized that I now have a bit a of tinnitus. <sigh> Figures. o_O
 
Tinnitus can get worse. I've lost all of the hearing in my left ear, the only thing that I CAN hear with it is the tinnitus. Certain medications can make it worse (even if you stop taking them, I know from personal experience), and depending on the cause it can be made worse by further loud noises (also from personal experience). You need to have your doctor and/or a good audiologist examine you and see if they can find a cause. In any case, definitely double up on the hearing protection, like some others have indicated the noise cancelling earmuffs and good silicone plugs work for me.
 
I honestly can't blame my tinnitus solely on firearms when I used lawnmowers with bad mufflers, dirt bikes and motorcycles with modified exhausts, playing electric Bass, basting loud car stereo and working with chainsaws/power tools. Just basically living a modern lifestyle would be enough to damage hearing IMHO.

Working in the factory and shooting handguns were the only instances where I used "ears", still don't use them when hunting with long guns.
 
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Had it for years. Not from shooting? Mine started when a .257 roberts went off in the gunrack of an old ranch truck bouncing across a Nebraska hay field when I was about 12 years old. Rock concerts and working in a loud bar through college didn't help or the years of shooting since. I still shoot, I wear ear protection, I learned to live with it.
 
I have had tinnitus since before my teen years due to the availability of cherry bombs, m-80's, and block busters, and hitting a whole roll of cap gun caps with a hammer. It got worse when I moved to the country and we had a two car garage that I shot out of on rainy days (I built a shooting range so I could shoot rain or shine). Now I wear plugs and muffs except when hunting and especially when shooting if there is a over head covering. So old age might have something to do with tinnitus in some folks, so does exposure to excessive noise and that noise can be music turned up too high, fireworks, gun fire or a noisy mechanical device like a leaf blower, etc. I can normally tune it out but if I'm in a very quiet place sometimes it is deafening .
 
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There are situations where use of hearing protection is not practical.

Discharging firearm in confined space of a house/room for defensive purposes will negatively affect the shooter.

How many of us will check for intruders of our house wearing hearing protection?
 
bds said:
How many of us will check for intruders of our house wearing hearing protection?
Click to expand...
Vielleicht, nur ein Mann ... <raising my hand> Peltor Tactical 6S at my bedside.

I would much prefer not having to wear them but that would take them having the restrictions removed so that they would be more available and hassle-free, with many more options and, therefore, offering some less expensive products. :)
 
I also suffer from this infernal racket that drives me nuts at times. Other times I seem to tune it out. I had my ears rung bad by a .357 revolver as a kid, but the ringing went away.

But after years of working with everything from hand tools and heavy equipment to the time the 5" gun on the Destroyer I served on went off unexpectedly. Or then there was the 200 round burst of 30mm Phalanx that got my attention!

Anyway, I now try to protect what hearing I have left, when ever I can. But as a hunter, there are times where I am caught unprepared for the shot and get a good blast. Maybe, it's already as bad as it can get for me, but it never seems to get any worse.
 
I've had it since I was a kid when an older cousin threw a firecracker and it went off a few inches from my ear. It has gotten somewhat worse over the years, but not from shooting. I wear plugs and muffs and I've gotten silencers for all the calibers I shoot.
 
Dog Soldier said:
I developed Tinnitus over 50 years ago. I was shooting a .357 without hearing protection. I had a bad head cold at the time. There is no cure and the hearing loss increases as we age.
I have never known anyone who was a life long shooters that avoided the condition completely. Did I ever let Tinnitus interfere with my love for shooting? He!! no.:thumbup:
Click to expand...
That's how mine started, shooting hot .357 loads; that and playing lead electric triangle for Toad the Wet Sprocket.....
 
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