Hearing protection vs. hearing damage

[CPTMurdoc30]

one single shot without HPD's will cause hearing loss.

The sharp loud noise causes microscopic hairs in the inner ear to shear away these microscopic hairs are nerve endings and that is what causes hearing loss.

[davlandrum]

Panino - There are a lot of variables in your question, but usually hearing is lost through frequent exposure.

I am willing to expose my hearing to unmuffled guns during hunting season, where it is just a shot or 2. Range time I use plugs and muffs.

Now that I am going to use a SW .460 to hunt with, I am going to get some electronic plugs that will allow me to hunt, but shut down the BOOM.

[longcoldwinter]

Anyone know what military does for hearing protection for foot soldiers while there in active duty?

[Don P]

NOTHING. I am currently working with a vet fron Afgan and Irac and according to him NO protection provided at all

[CPTMurdoc30]

the army issues Ear plugs. But when you are trying to communicate in combat it gets a little hard to hear over gun fire and ear plugs. That and if your hearing is muffled you cannot hear the bad guys either.

The only reason they issue ear plugs is to remove them from paying disability for hearing loss. Because they gave you the tools to protect your hearing. At least that is what i was told when I went in for my exit physical. I had notable hearing loss before joining and it was even worse after i got done. Operating heavy equipment without hearing protection is not good for hearing.

[FMJparabellum]

When i was old enough to buy a handgun. I ran out and bought a HI-POINT .45 acp. took to the range and comenced firing. 100 rounds later with no hearing protection. Needless to say I found out HI-POINTS are crappy and ill never shoot without protection again/ ive had a ringing in my left ear ever since. that was about 5 years ago.
I prefer the plugs...

[rem870hunter]

i wear the foam ear plugs when shooting long guns. handguns i may use earmuffs. if i forgot the muffs i'll use the plugs. i keep a pair in my hunting coat at all times. i don't shove them in my ears right before shooting in the woods on the hunt. i have fired a few slugs and rounds of buckshot without the plugs and the first shot wasn't too loud to me but the other shots made my ears ring. i didn't do that anymore. i have hearing loss from too many times of having headphones on listening to rock music(aerosmith,ac/dc.) and shooting the .22 without muffs or plugs. i don't know if the fireworks tossed around the backyard did any damage. i am 34 and there are times when i probably couldn't hear a dump truck driving through a nitroglycerine plant.

[grymster2007]

Pardon???

[davlandrum]

NOTHING. I am currently working with a vet fron Afgan and Irac and according to him NO protection provided at all

I would be willing to bet a retirement check if he had tried, he could have got some if he had lost his.

Now if the guys in combat wear them or not, that is a different question. I never ran a range, even in Somalia, that we did not require ear plugs and have plenty on hand for those who didn't have them handy.

But again, outside the wire is a whole different world...

[WhyteP38]

Anyone know what military does for hearing protection for foot soldiers while there in active duty?

I can't speak for the ground pounders, but for naval aviators, we got ear plugs. But that wasn't enough to prevent hearing loss. I knew a flight surgeon who could tell what aircraft type you flew based on what type of hearing loss you incurred.

For that reason, I always double-plug at the range: headset over plugs. I no longer trust one method to fully do the job.

[BerettaFox]

everytime you are near a gunshot that is unsupressed it causes hearing damage (without protection). maybe it has something to do with that high pitched bell like noise aka the ringing in your ears. shooting a 12 guage indoors will cause hearing damage. not enough to notice probably, unless you just do something totally crazy with it. definitely worth protecting whatever is inside your house though, the hearing damage is a very small price to pay. and likely if you do shoot somebody it will be the last thing on your mind after you pull the trigger.

[DMacLeod]

Haveing tinnitus and a fair amount of hearing loss I can attest to the benefit of hearing protection. I just wish I had used it religiously years ago.
Once it is gone (hearing) it's gone................

[CryingWolf]

Your forgot to include my motorcycle.

I have been using hearing protection for years now.

[UniversalFrost]

even with hearing protection you run the risk of hearing damage, and once it is gone, you aint' getting it back.

I have tinnitus from my years in the military and I wore double hearing protection (plugs and muffs) on the range, but when I went to war (iraq, afghanistan, etc....) there was no time to call time out so you could put your muffs or plugs on.

Your hearing is a precious thing and do what you can to protect and keep it. I used to have excellent hearing and now I am lucky to hear somebody who is speaking directly to me from across the table.

Plus hearing really is a necessity if you go hunting etc... I have had to learn how to adapt my style (used to be stalking, and still hunting) to more of a long range game where I do a lot of glassing and long shots. And competition can suffer as well if you can barely hear the range officer, or those around you.

Just wear the hearing protection (double is best).

JOE

[T. R. Allen]

I wish the military had said something back in '65 thru '68. Way to much gunfire with no hearing protection. A lot of hearing loss and a great built in whistle.

[overkill556x45]

I have tinnitus from my years in the military and I wore double hearing protection (plugs and muffs) on the range, but when I went to war (iraq, afghanistan, etc....) there was no time to call time out so you could put your muffs or plugs on.

ditto-


I was in afghan too a few years ago. I wore ear pro on the range, but when RPG's come screaming out of the mountains, you can't call time out to put your ear plugs in. I bought a pair of Surefire plugs that still allow you to hear, but keep out gunshot noise, and can be converted to standard plugs by using an attached stopper. I will take many pairs on my next middle eastern adventure.

[hogdogs]

Just turned 40 and have had a VERY constant noticable ringing in my ears for MUCH more than 10 years. Sadly I see it as too late to worry about MY hearing. As a father I have also failed a bit by not insisting my kids wear protection (they better not make me a premature grand parent however) since I can't seem to get past the do as I say not as I do thing. I have told them the risks of hearing loss and of the incessant distraction and battle to fall asleep with the ringing.
I have done many things to destroy my hearing above and beyond gunfire.
Building and riding souped up open pipe harleys. Riding 2 stroke dirt bikes. Wrenching on top fuel grade engines with zoomie pipes blasting in my un-protected ears. One thing I noticed is that the pitch plays as much or more a role as decible of volume. Some of them motors would reach in deep and tickle my ears all the way to my throat while others thumped... The "ticklers" seemed far harder on me. Metal shop work also played a big part too. But I also know that hundreds of thousands of various rounds of gunfire have had their costs too.
Brent

[dahermit]

The only time that I did not need my wife to "interpret" in a movie theater because I could not hear all the dialog was when I used the headset offered for the hearing impaired.

The only way I can understand all the dialog on T.V. is to have it very loud, have my wife interpret, or wear a headset.

The Dr.s have told me that I have lost at least 50% of the 5,000 cycles per second range in both ears.

Despite hear loss from gunfire being a myth, I now wear soft earplugs, with shooting muffs over the top of them for all my shooting.

I am 65 years old but my hearing was already gone by 25 years old.

[ice9_us]

thanks for the info.. shot my pt140 1 time with out plugs..
never again...
3 hours later.. my head still hurts.. i still have rings in my ears..

WHAT!!!! WHAT!!!!

[JohnKSa]

Any time your ears ring after a loud noise it's indicative of damage to your ears. Generally speaking that damage is permanent. Your brain will compensate to the extent that it is able which usually means that you won't notice the hearing loss without a test until it has progressed to the point that it is severe.

[NPS,LE]

May I suggest this information be somehow posted to all the other forums on this excellent site? This understanding is as vital to the "safe handling" of firearms as any of the other rules we are taught and live by.

This explains a lot, including some hearing loss I sustained learning to shoot outdoors with a 357S&W a very long time ago with just a little tissue tucked into my ears.

[clayking]

What is the effect or reduction in DB's from the use of the electronic muffs?...................................ck

[Chui]

Good thread.

I work in Acoustics and have done so for about eight (8) years now. There is an SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Technical Paper I will send to any who PM me their e-mail that deals with Firearm exposure and Hearing Loss. Very interesting document. The crux: IMPULSIVE noises are far more damaging to ears than constant tone, non-impulsive noise sources. The human ear filters the sound (we call it A-weighting) in which the freuencies at 5kHz are accentuated. Exposure to gunfire will reduce the ear's sensitivity here.

PM me.

[Bud Helms]

We are moving this thread to General Discussion and pinning it at the top.

[NukemJim]

Chui, I tried to PM you but was not succesfull.
Could you please send a copy of the SAE paper to my Email address NukemJim (at) Yahoo.com

Thank you

NukemJim