Im 28 and this is the first hearing issue ive ever had its been 4 days and the hearing has gotten better but the ring is there
Im 28 and this is the first hearing issue ive ever had its been 4 days and the hearing has gotten better but the ring is there
The ringing usually goes away after several days, or may even take a few weeks depending on the severity of the damage. You could have permanent ringing if the damage was severe enough, but unless your head was very close to the muzzle when it discharged it should eventually clear up. I have had a small number of exposures to gunshots when I did not have hearing protection, and had to endure the ringing as a result, but it did subside for me.
With that being said, I do have a problem hearing conversations when in a crowd of people that are all talking (may be age related). My hearing shows slight loss, not enough to warrant hearing aids, yet I can not understand someone speaking to me when the crowd noise is high. I hear well enough in one on one situations in a quiet room, and often reduce the volume of the TV after my wife goes to bed, and she claims to have good hearing.
I usually use hearing protection in the form of muffs, or doubled up with plugs and muffs when shooting indoors. I do not use the electronic muffs, as they do not have as high a Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) as standard muffs. Shop around and you can find muffs with NRR of 28-31, and adding plugs usually adds about 5 dB more reduction. Electronic muffs are usually closer to a NRR of 20.
When I was in my teens, a guy next to me at a public range, fired a .30-06 before the range was hot. I didn't have my hearing protection on at that moment. I couldn't barely hear in my left ear for weeks, and my right ear was not 100%. It slowly recovered over five years. I was lucky!
Just the other day I was shaking a lighter @ my right ear and listening for the swish of fluid. I could hear the swishing and bubbling of the fluid inside the lighter with vivid clarity. I somehow switched hands and instinctively shook it @ my left ear... It was empty! Wait... EMPTY? Right ear again, FULL... Left ear = empty... I never really realized how bad my hearing was until just a few days ago. I knew I had damaged hearing when switching sides on my pillow and hearing ambient noise and the lack thereof.
Respect your body!
I am 35...
Yea all was good til the .223 went off and 30-06 my right ear seems fine and im crossing fingers left comes back even if i have some loss i did get a reusable set of plugs now and stocked the box w tons of disposibles to be safe. Threw a few in each gun box aswell. Bc this ***** sucks a##. It for sure seems to get a touch better each day just not the ring yet.
Don't mess around with your hearing. I have tinnitus so bad that I can't sleep in a quiet room - the ringing just gets louder and louder. My hearing is good, but the ringing can drive me insane at times. You show up at the range and have no plugs? Get some, or go home. Get in the habit. You're 28, and probably still think you're invincible. Don't do it. Tinnitus sucks. Trust me.
This thread made me think of a few things I've always wondered about.
1. For those of you who were in the military in combat (Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, etc.), what impact has that had on your hearing? I'm assuming, the use of hearing protection in combat is limited (I could be wrong).
2. How many people use hearing protection when hunting? I do a fair amount of small game and upland hunting and to a lesser extent I hunt deer, coyote and turkey. I've never worn any hunting. If I'm next to someone who's going to take a shot deer or turkey hunting, I'll plug my ears, but if I'm the shooter I don't have anything.
True story...
Went to the range with a buddy one time and he forgot ear pro. I had my muffs with me so I had no extra plugs. My buddy took his .45, buried one of this ears into a shoulder, plugged the other ear with a finger and popped two .45ACP's into the hill. Hey then re-holstered, picked up the brass and said "ear plugs".
I gave it a try and it works VERY well. Way better than hearing damage.
Yea i for sure learned a life lesson on this one. I went in to have a hearing test done last night. Both ear drums working perfect . Right side is 100% on my hearing. But left side is pretty much tone deff. Out of 30 tones they have me listen for heard them all on the right only heard 4 on the left. They told me good luck reffered a specialist and said only time will help but don't get to optimistic.