Hearing

[jim lock]

I've been shooting for well over 40 yrs. and have always used the best hearing protection available. Obviously in a self defense situation in my home hearing protection would not be in the mix. My question; does anyone the damage that a fired shot or shot can cause to our hearing. I am NOT talking about "be deaf Or dead" type of thing I'm talking about damage to our hearing. I would hate to be in a room where an ar went off ---probably permanent damage. Wondering if a suppressor is way to go. Any thoughts????
Thanks in advance Jim

 

[richardw]

My hearing was challenged after decades in the Corps. Unlike today, we did not have knee pads, eye protection, and ear plugs. While my hearing deteriorated over 30years I managed well without hearing aids. Three years ago I was at an indoor range when the range officer declared a cease fire. I secured my gun for total safety and then removed my ear muffs. The person in the lane next to me shot one 45 acp round off. I could not hear with my right ear. After a week some hearing came back but it was not like before. I ended up with two hearing aids since audiologists recommend that to keep the hearing at the same level in each ear. There is a lot of data to back that up.

So all I can say is that one day I could hear ok, then someone shot a gun indoors near me, and my hearing was never the same.

 

[Arik]

I don't know how much damage one shot would cause. Probably not enough to diagnose or notice. I've fired ..... indoors with no hearing protection..... 9mm, 38spl, 380, 357, 45acp, 7.62x25, 556, 7.62x39, 7.62x54, 12G, 50AE. Some only once and some, like the 9, several mags. This I was in the course of a year or more. This was back in 2000 or so and my hearing is fine.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[ContinentalOp]

I would say that, for me, hearing damage is a concern but not an overriding one. For example, even though I had a .357 Magnum revolver, I kept it loaded with .38 Special +P partly due to the difference in noise and the accompanying risk for hearing damage.

As far as how much damage, I can't say. What I know is that hearing loss is cumulative. Even if one doesn't experience hearing loss right away, it doesn't mean that damage hasn't been done. It may mean hearing loss happens sooner than expected.

Some knowledgeable people recommend having good quality, active hearing protection handy at home in case one needs to fire in self defense. Active protectors can improve your ability to hear while attenuating the noise from gunfire. Of course, this is also presuming you've established enough security layers around your home to give you sufficient advanced warning that you have time to put them on.

 

[colt_saa]

I would never use the possibility of hearing loss as a factor in deciding what firearm to protect myself with

EVERYTHING is secondary and can be worked around except you not surviving the encounter.

Over the decades I have discharged or been in rooms where firearms were discharged MANY times. We never had the opportunity to put on hearing protection first.

Perhaps the two worst incidents was the single discharge of a Remington 125JHP 357 Magnum round in a ~11x13 bedroom . . . or the discharge of multiple 45ACP+P Hydrashoks out the front window of a closed car.

In both instances I was grateful for the ammunition in my firearms. The possible disaster of having less powerful ammunition, especially through the car windshield, is unthinkable

Have I suffered hearing damage? While I never did before and after hearing tests, of course I did. So What? Now almost two decades later I am still here to talk about it

 

[Beauetienne]

For over 40 years I always used protection indoors, but only about half the time outside.
It was unheard of (no pun intended) 'back when' to use when hunting. Nor for sighting in at the camp or blasting away for fun.
No obvious damage so far, but hindsight is 20/20.

 

[Bullseye 2620]

The structures in our ears that are responsible for translating vibrations in the air into the electrical impulses that the brain interprets as audible sounds are actually little tiny hair-like structures. When subjected to excessive vibration, they break. Unlike most other cells in the body, these do not regenerate. So, hearing loss becomes cumulative, and it is most noticeable at higher frequencies.

I remember an old Baltimore City cop I used to shoot with at the 12th Precinct. He hated ear muffs and was often reminded by the RO during matches that he had to wear hearing protection. I asked him if the gunfire didn't affect his concentration, and he said, "Yeah, in the beginning, gunfire was pretty bothersome, but after I while it didn't bother me at all."

He was telling the truth: the reason it didn't bother him was because of the cumulative hearing loss he had suffered.

The following article from Shooting Sports USA is definitely worth reading: Shooting Sports USA | The Price Of Shooting—Hearing Loss?. It contains some useful data on the effect of suppressors.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bill In Texas]

Hello Jim!

I think that's a good question for an Audiologist. I would be interested in knowing myself.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Everyone is likely to have more or less the same story. I have tinnitus in both ears after decades of shooting. My hearing is pretty good, actually, considering. The last thing I worry about is noise if I am confronted by a home invader. However, my house guns are revolvers. So suppression is unavailable. If I were keeping semi-auto pistols around I would want them suppressed - it makes sense.

 

[Breakaway500]

The few times I have fired anything louder than a 22lr without ear protection, my ears ring. I'm pretty careful, as I don't want my hearing to be as bad as some of my fellow shooters! I've talked to them for 5 minutes before realizing they haven't heard a single word I've said.Almost stone deaf..without their hearing aids. Frustrating.

As soon as I can buy one legally in my state,I will be buying supressors for my autoloader pistols and my 12 gauge pump shotgun.

It's ironic..we all are required by law to muffle our vehicles,but mention one word about a "silencer" for a gun, and people go off the deep end. It's all because of Hollywood..after all,everyone KNOWS silencers are only used by hitmen or the CIA,right??

 

[phonejack]

I have tinnitus, I wear hearing aids, my self defence ammo is all subsonic.

 

[Smoke]

I make a point of getting in on every hearing protection thread I find because I made the mistake of not protecting my hearing and lost most of it.

I was an artilleryman in the Army for several years and afterwards worked as a sheet metal fabricator/ machinist. I started my manufacturing career operating a Strippit 1250 CNC Turret Press and made a point of using hearing protection then but it was too late.

I am 52 years old, I can’t use a telephone without head phones, I have to use the closed captions when I watch TV (or turn it up so loud the neighbors can hear it), my wife has given up on asking me “Did you hear that?”, I’ve lost a lot of the enjoyment of music (MP3 head phones will damage your hearing too BTW) and I have to lip read my grandkids

My point is, once your hearing is gone, it’s gone and by the time you realize I know exactly what I'm talking about it will be too late for you too.

Wear your hearing protection Wear your hearing protection Wear your hearing protection Wear your hearing protection Wear your hearing protection
__________________

 

[Doogie85]

Due to years of shooting and other activities with no or not sufficient hearing protection, I now live with tinnitus. Darned ringing never stops.
Now I double up with plugs and muffs if shooting indoors and at least muffs if not both outdoors.
Wish I had done so before the damage was done.
As stated above, by the time your hearing is affected it is too late to "fix it".

 

[Pef]

I was 46 and had near perfect hearing when I suffered ONE shot from a .357 in a SW 640 in an enclosed space. I went deaf immediately, and then within seconds my hearing began to return and started ringing. Five years later they are still ringing due to the permanent tinnitus.

After the shot I had a massive threshold shift that lasted for a few weeks. There were other hearing-related injuries as well.

Since then I cannot listen to higher-pitched music (e.g., violin concertos, etc.) at anything other than a moderate volume...

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qEp0flLg_U[/ame]

Soo...GIVEN THE CORRECT ACOUSTIC SETTING, ONE SHOT CAN PERMANENTLY DAMAGE YOUR HEARING!

 

[Bob L]

Like many of you when I started shooting 55 years ago, no one wore any type of hearing protection. In the late 60's, I was at the range and near me, a couple of guys had a Ruger Blackhawk in 357 mag. I was watching them, having never shot a pistol before and when they saw me, asked if I wanted to try it. Of course I said yes and handed me the firearm. I shot it once and my ears started to ring. I started to hand it back and they said to finish the other 5. Well I did and handled it back. It was 4 days before I could hear some one standing next to me talk. The ringing has never gone away and when I had my hearing checked in the early 70's, I was told that I had the hearing of a 70 year old man. Before that, I can remember the old timers shooting next to me with the filter ripped off a cigarette and stuffed in their ears or even a 38 special shell in each ear. As they say, if I only knew then what I know now.

 

[raljr1]

when i was 19 or 20, a couple buddies and I went shooting 22 revolvers at an indoor range. No hearing protectíon for me, it was only a 22. I couldn't hear for must of the next day by then I had been working in a machine shop for 5 years and we didnt wear hearing protectiion there either. Broken bones, amputated finger, glasses for reading, no problem.....what i have missed by damaging my hearing i regret every day. And I get to hear crickets 24/7/365. Do whayever you can do to protect your hearing.

 

[jim lock]

Thanks for all the input. I am going to put a pair of electronic earmuffs next to my home defense weapon and practice using them when I draw my weapon.

 

[Old cop]

I survived three gunfishts in my 30 years but only one was inside at close range. I never heard a thing in any of them (there’s a medical term for that but I can’t remember it) and my hearing is just fine now.

 

[Murdock]

I survived three gunfishts in my 30 years but only one was inside at close range. I never heard a thing in any of them (there’s a medical term for that but I can’t remember it) and my hearing is just fine now.

Auditory exclusion.

 

[andyo5]

I have a friend who had recently acquired an AR. He made the mistake of firing it at a range where the shooting benches were separated by concrete block walls, without using hearing protection. The first shot damaged his hearing sufficiently that he now wears a hearing aid in the ear that was closest to the wall.
I wear electronic muffs with 29 decibel suppression. Unless I am talking to someone, I turn the electronics off to get full sound suppression.