Ears ringing for over 12 hours straight

[Dragline45]

I was at an indoor range yesterday and stupidly took my ears off real quick, I forgot to put them back on and fired off a single .357 round. This was at about 6pm last night and my ears are still ringing.

If this has happened to anyone else how long untill the ringing subsides and stops driving me crazy? I know all about tinnitus already, my whole life I have not been able to sleep at night without a fan on because I hear a ringing, but the ringing I have now from the gunshot is much more intense so like I said before does anyone know how long untill it subsides.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

There's no way of knowing how long it will last. It may well be permanent. I fired my 15" Encore Pro Hunter last year while wearing foam plugs but the right one had apparently not sealed completely. My ear is still ringing. Tinnitus can be very severe. It's not always a "mild" background ringing.

On the other hand, I made a similar mistake a couple years previous and the ringing went away after a couple weeks.

Like I said, no way to know. If you get lucky, it will go away... eventually.


I wouldn't be surprised if it's age related, at least to the extent that your ears eventually get "all they can take". When I was in my early teen and pre-teen years we routinely fired all manner of guns without any protection at all. My ears always quit ringing after a few hours. Didn't make it any less stupid, but they always quit eventually.

 

[Mal H]

I sincerely hate to say it, but you may have caused some permanent damage. If only it had been a .22! That would have definitely caused a lot of ringing as well, but not nearly as much as a .357 Mag in an indoor range. That can be devastating to unprotected ears.

I would bet the intense ringing will subside gradually over the next 24 hours or so, but you might want to purchase a white noise sound machine since a mere fan may not be enough from now on. That's what I have to use. Like many here, before the whole shooting sport industry wised up, I fired all sorts of firearms without ear protection. But, they were all outdoors. Indoor ranges intensify the sound reaching your ears by several decibels. It only takes an increase of 3 decibels to have doubled the pressure on (damage to) your ears.

A tip for you and everyone reading this thread - when you remove your ear protection, don't depend on your memory to put it back on (mine would fail me almost every time), don't set them aside or in your pocket, place the plugs on the gun or mags or ammo, or anything where you would have to see them before you shoot again.

 

[4runnerman]

As a Guy that is half deaf for 20 years now. I have had ringing in my ears for over 20 years. It's gets to where you don't even notice it. I sure hope it gets better for ya

 

[Dragline45]

I appreciate the input everyone. Thankfully I hear the younger you are the better chances of recovery and I am in my mid 20s and this is the first time this has happened so all I can do is hope for the best.

 

[Slamfire]

They cleared the line on the 600 yard match. I was on the far right end and everyone was behind me. My scorer was bantering with me so I took my hearing protection off. He did not warn me that they made the line hot again, so someone could get a zero with their 308.

I have had permanent tendinitis since then.

 

[Dragline45]

how intense is the permanent tendinitis compared to when the ringing intially started?

 

[oneounceload]

My tinnitus has been with me for decades - it NEVER goes away, but some days it seems less noticeable. Mine might have been exacerbated by shooting (always wore protection), but I got it from Jimi Hendrix at volume 9 with headphones on in college way back when.

Besides plugs to protect your ear canal, you really need muffs to protect around the outer ear mastoid as the vibrations will cause middle ear damage.

Remember, once it is gone, it is gone and it can't be fixed, so protect your hearing judiciously

 

[5.56RifleGuy]

those noise reduction electronic muffs are nice, You don't have to take them off to hear people. They don't work the best when shooting rifle though.

 

[gearhounds]

I wear both soft inner protection, and electronic outer's. I find that when turned all the way up, I can hear most of the speaking I need to hear, and still protection when the rounds go off.

 

[Evan Thomas]

According to the National Institutes of Health, it may be possible to prevent permanent hearing loss after noise exposure by taking antioxidants: aspirin and vitamin E. According to this article on their website, there is, possibly, as much as a three-day window:

In a recent study, however, the antioxidants in salicylate (aspirin) and Trolox (vitamin E) were given to guinea pigs as long as three days after noise exposure and still significantly reduced hearing loss. These results suggest that there is a window of opportunity in which it is possible to rescue hearing from noise trauma.
​

I'd be careful about taking more than a standard dose of aspirin, but loading up on vitamin E, short-term, won't hurt you, and it just might help minimize permanent damage from this.

But next time, leave the muffs on. The damage is cumulative, and while there is such a thing as temporary hearing loss, once it's permanent, it's gone for good.

 

[Capt. Charlie]

There may be a permanent secondary effect as well. I was a Navy gunner's mate back in the late 60's/early 70's. They didn't issue hearing protection back then and every time we shot, I had tinnitus.

That faded over time, but while I hear well at certain frequencies, there are others in which I have a permanent 60% hearing loss.

Would that happen from exposure to one shot? I don't know, but I'd suggest you see a specialist and get checked.

Personally, if there were ever to be an addition to the 4 safety rules, I'd like it to be "Never forget your hearing protection".

 

[jglsprings]

Between loud rock music, gunfire, jack hammers, heavy construction equipment and high explosives - I can't hear a word my wife says.

And you know what? It stinks. Hope you didn't do too much damage.

 

[microman]

Sorry to hear that Dragline.

I tried my snubby .357 indoors with just plugs and
I think thats loud. I usually use muffs and plugs
together.

Hope it gets better.

 

[Onward Allusion]

I once shot a 22LR in a cement hallway and my ears rang for about 1/2 a day. Only time will tell if you had permanently damaged your hearing. Strictly as an aside, this is one of the reasons why I don't like the .357 mag as an indoor home defense option.

 

[hogcowboy]

I did the same thing but in an outdoor range 25 years ago. My ears are still ringing. Had them tested about 2 years ago and I have 80% loss of hearing in one ear. You can only hope you didn't do permanent damage but........

 

[Syntax360]

I did the same thing when I was 21, except it was .40S&W. My ears rang for just over 24 hours, but it stopped. I wouldn't panic yet - I suspect you'll be fine...

Keep us posted!

 

[FrankenMauser]

The shock wave created by the .357 Mag is much more damaging than that of most other handgun cartridges. Combined with close proximity to flat vertical surfaces, and being indoors, you probably caused permanent damage. However, the ringing will probably subside within the next day or so.

While in the military, my room mate thought it was a good idea to bring a simulated grenade home from an exercise (we often participated in OPFOR exercises), and the genius decided to play with it during a power outage. Long story short: He had to quickly lob it out the back door, onto our back porch. He didn't have time to warn me. Lucky me! The construction of the porch directed most of the blast back into the house. The only thing that saved the windows, and some of my hearing, was that all the doors and windows were open (power outage in Florida, in the summer, after all).

Every LEO in the county, and nearly half of the base police personnel responded to the "house explosion" 911 calls. That idiot was reprimanded, discharged, and back in his home town within 10 days.

I was deaf for two days, and my ears hurt severely for 4-5 days (ear drums weren't torn, but I'm sure they suffered damage the docs couldn't see). After about a week, my hearing was back to acceptable levels, but the ringing lasted for months. Six months after that sim-grenade went off, I went in for a hearing test. I lost 15-25% of my hearing, across all frequencies, from that single incident. (I had a test about a month prior to the detonation, that was used for comparison.)


As dramatic as that example is...
I am more susceptible to hearing damage now, than before that incident. The docs warned me that it would be easier for me to damage my hearing, than it was prior to the sim-grenade, but I never really believed them. Then, of course, I found out the hard way. I fired a quick string of 5 shots of 8x57mm Mauser, in a dense wooded area, with no ear plugs, on a rabbit hunting trip the next year. It took almost 2 weeks for my hearing to return to what seemed normal. At the next hearing test, I had lost another 5-10% across the most important frequency band (human voice).

Once severe damage occurs, it accelerates further hearing loss.

 

[mquail]

I've had ringing in the ears since the Vietnam war. Ya just learn to live with it. After we retired from our farm both the wife and myself signed up for the VA. Yep we met in the military, she was an E-4. They told me there was nothing they could do for it but I get new hearing aids. The important thing is you have to learn to live with it and ignore it.

Brad

 

[Dragline45]

I have an appointment tomorrow if the ringing does not subside when I wake up. Good news is I haven't noticed any hearing loss, just this damn ringing which has lessened from last night. From most people I have talked to and from what I read on here im hoping the ringing stops over the next week. Untill then ill try the aspirin and vitamin e. Also thanks for the tip on the white noise, i downloaded an hour strait clip and it really does block it out.