stagpanther
New member
Wow, exactly what happened to me.
Longest Yours Ears Have Rung after shooting?
- Thread starter Tawaliga
- Start date
I've had a couple of outdoor episodes in which fires without ears on.
It was painful. I believe more harmful were the years of shooting indoors around some very loud arms.
I wonder whether some people are dissuaded by the price of hearing protection products. Some muffs are very pricey.
My solution is cheap foam ear plugs plus cheap electronic muffs (I have Caldwells) with the volume turned up. I can hear everything I need to hear at a range, I'm not depending entirely on good electronics, and the muffs physically hold in the ear plugs.
It was painful. I believe more harmful were the years of shooting indoors around some very loud arms.
langenc said:
I wonder whether some people are dissuaded by the price of hearing protection products. Some muffs are very pricey.
My solution is cheap foam ear plugs plus cheap electronic muffs (I have Caldwells) with the volume turned up. I can hear everything I need to hear at a range, I'm not depending entirely on good electronics, and the muffs physically hold in the ear plugs.
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Peltor, $65
Walkers, $35
Cost is no barrier. If there were a sure cure for tinnitus, I'd happily pay $1,000 to get it.
Bob Willman
New member
I did not get hearing protection until the mid 1970s, after getting a .357 magnum about 1965. Small game hunted from the 1950s. Started deer hunting in 1964. My ears started ringing a long time ago probably in the 1970s and have been ringing ever since. many times the ringing is the loudest sound that I hear overriding everything else. I cannot hear the strings on the last 10 or 20 right hand keys on a piano. Same with the violin. I do not hear sirens until the vehicle is in sight.
Hearing aids help some with conversation, but are not a miracle cure. Please protect your ears while you can!
Bob
WB8NQW
Hearing aids help some with conversation, but are not a miracle cure. Please protect your ears while you can!
Bob
WB8NQW
Oh how I wish I understood that 40 years ago when all the loud stuff started happening . Construction , heavy metal concerts and shooting for 40 years has pretty much blown my ears out . My right ear is so bad just hammering in a nail hurts and makes it ring even more . Hell my ears don't ring they scream , can't go to sleep with out noise to counter the ringing . TV on with the sleep timer is my trick . In theory I have many more years of life left so I'm not looking forward to what this will be like in 10 years . I almost always double up at the range and recently spent big money on powdered muffs . Like those cause I still double up but because they are powered I can still hear when I need to .
I've read somewhere and I'm not sure if it's true but even if your ears are well covered . The concussion of a large bore rifle or rifle with a brake can still cause damage from around the ear muffs .
FairWarning
New member
Forever. 
My favorite things as a youth were guns, electric guitars & playing in rock/metal bands, fast cars, and 2-stroke dirt bikes. Didn't use hearing protection very often with 9mm/.45 ACP/7.62x39 or hunting rifles (not many shots per day for these) back then. It's a miracle I can hear anything! I can actually hear quite well, although there is some high frequency loss for sure.
Now many years later, no change in my interests. Well except I don't ride dirt bikes much, but I still love 'em. And I've been using hearing protection religiously since my mid 20s.
A lot of other things can contribute to tinnitus, including age, caffeine intake, ear wax buildup etc. I've read that taking magnesium can help with tinnitus for some, and I think it does, along with reducing caffeine and professional or over the counter ear wax removal every now and then.
Oh, and I don't skimp on ear plugs/ear phones. Buy which ones you think are the BEST.
My favorite things as a youth were guns, electric guitars & playing in rock/metal bands, fast cars, and 2-stroke dirt bikes. Didn't use hearing protection very often with 9mm/.45 ACP/7.62x39 or hunting rifles (not many shots per day for these) back then. It's a miracle I can hear anything! I can actually hear quite well, although there is some high frequency loss for sure.
Now many years later, no change in my interests.
Well except I don't ride dirt bikes much, but I still love 'em. And I've been using hearing protection religiously since my mid 20s. A lot of other things can contribute to tinnitus, including age, caffeine intake, ear wax buildup etc. I've read that taking magnesium can help with tinnitus for some, and I think it does, along with reducing caffeine and professional or over the counter ear wax removal every now and then.
Oh, and I don't skimp on ear plugs/ear phones. Buy which ones you think are the BEST.
Mammals are the only animal class that can't heal damaged hearing. The gene thought responsible for this has been identified, so there may come a point in time when the CRISPER molecule's work can be better controlled and when we might be able to alter that gene and start healing our hearing. Unnatural, evolutionarily speaking, but possible. If the beneficiaries of this treatment then go on to grow gills afterward, I may be concerned. In the meanwhile, expect any such treatment to become available for pets before it is for people.
Additionally, in the last year or so, someone succeeded in deafening mice and then recovered their hearing by placing stem cells in their inner ears. That's a treatment that may come around sooner than the gene splicing.
It's a brave new world.
Additionally, in the last year or so, someone succeeded in deafening mice and then recovered their hearing by placing stem cells in their inner ears. That's a treatment that may come around sooner than the gene splicing.
It's a brave new world.
Mine have been ringing for years now, but I don't blame shooting. I have almost never fired a gun without ear protection, and I didn't shoot at all for 20 years before the ringing started. I blame unmuffled V-6 Outboard motors and wind noise from bass boats. If I was going to do that again, I'd wear ear protection when running.
I'll be 75 this month and have shot hand guns, rifles and shotguns for more than 60 years. I didn't use ear plugs when target shooting or hunting. I spent a year in Vietnam in the war and never had ear plugs. I have hunted small animals, ducks and geese, coyotes, whitetail deer, mule deer, black bear, and elk - all without ear plugs. I have used ear plugs when target shooting at a range. I have never had ringing in my ears. However, I have been using hearing aids in both ears for several years to hear voices on a cell phone, to hear people talking on TV and radios, and to hear people speaking to me in person. I guess I'm lucky that I don't have ringing in my ears.
One time i was shooting 200 meters under a metal covered structure. I accidentally sent a muzzle braked 300 win mag round downrange anf forgot my hearing protection. That was INSANE ear hurt. My ears loudly rang for about a week and the first few days all sounds were dull. I was very scared i did permanant damage. Luckily after a few weeks i regained my hearing to normal levels. I have mandatory osha hearing tests annually and per my text data i did not suffer and hearing damage as compared to prior tests.