[AdBro]

for the past few years i've noticed ver slight ringing in my ears when it's quiet at night. I never really cared.

a few months ago, after shooting a few times without ear protection, it's gotten worse and I was mad at myself for allowing me to shoot with unprotected ears.

this weekend, i had my muffs on top of my head, but with my ears exposed because i was talking to someone. when i turned to shoot i forgot to move the muffs down and just popped one round at the target and immediately realized i didn't have my muffs on.

never has a shot been so damaging to my ears. for the WHOLE DAY it felt like i was hearing underwater and the ringing volume doubled. that was two days ago now. the ringing went down SLIGHTLY, but the overall tinnitus seems to have almost doubled.

can i expect any more temporary ringing to go away or is this it? it's so loud, i can hear it all hours of the day no matter of the noises around me.

i supposed i can't ever have even one more slip up in the future. i feel like i'll seriously go deaf if i shoot another round without protection.

anyone have any input? can this EVER get better??

 

[DontTreadOnI]

I believe the damage is permanently accumulative. It will likely subside some from where it is now, but be worse than it was before.

I do not have it, but have been part in a few discussions about it before and this was the common consensus.

 

[AdBro]

i just want it to calm down from what it is now. i have never had temporary ringing last more than a few hours though so i'm scared that it won't be going away since we're approaching 48hrs.

this is seriously awful.

 

[paaiyan]

I've shot without hearing protection once. I occasionally hear a ringing, but it's not too bad. Usually only when it's very quiet and even then not all the time. I refuse to do it again though.

 

[AdBro]

it makes me regret ever doing it. i'm so upset with myself.

i hate reading a book at night and hearing RINGING. there has to be SOMETHING that can be done!

 

[Chesafreak]

I have tinnitus from working on aircraft in the Navy. I can hear the ringing all of the time, not just when its very quiet. I take care to use double hearing protection when I'm shooting so that I don't make it worse.

Hopefully yours will go back down to the level of ringing before you fired that shot, but I don't know if it will.

 

[Civil_Response]

In my experience:

Mine hasn't gone away in 20 years.
You never get used to it.
It never gets better.

Tinnitus sucks.

 

[GhostMaker]

The answer to your question is no, it will not go away. It can be managed with some of the treatments like Quietus, or Ginkgo Biloba. I have had good results with the Ginkgo myself. There are, so I have been told, devices that can be prescribed to you that are called "maskers". They fit in the ear like hearing aids and cancel out the ringing. A fellow police officer I worked with had a set made for him and he said they worked great.

 

[high pockets]

GO SEE AN AUDIOLOGIST! Sorry for the shouting, but I thought you might have a hard time hearing me. I, too, have tinnitus, but mine is virally induced. Just woke up one day with ringing in my ears and it never went away.

AsDontTreadOnI said, the condition is accumulative. Once the auditory nerves are damaged, they do not regenerate. My audiologist says I have lost 10% of hearing in one ear, not quite that in the other.

My wife often wonders why I always have noise around me (radio, TV, DVD, CD, anything), and it's so I don't notice the ringing as much. I hope yours eases up soon, but be very careful with your hearing protection,

And go see that audiologist.

 

[pgrass101]

I've had ringing in my ears for over 20 years now. You get use to it.

If you don't want it to get worse wear hearing protection whenever you can.

 

[OldVet]

Between guns and jets, my ears constantly ring louder than the Bells of Saint Marys on Easter. It forces me to concentrate on conversations but often drowns it out. The tones are constantly changing in pitch and ludness, making it impossible to "get used to." It can drive one nuts at times.

I told that there is some help for it.

 

[WHEC724]

My ears have been ringing since the mid 80's.

I actually have gotten used to it. Other than my kid hollering at me for waking him up with the TV at night, I've learned to just live with it and protect my hearing as much as possible now.

 

[Taurahe]

You need to go see an adiologist , especially since the ringing will not subside and it was caused recently. . I was an aircraft mechanic in the army and have tinnitus, even though i double protected with ear plugs and a headset. As far as relief, there is none. I have to use a fan to help block the ringing to sleep at night.

 

[AdBro]

does insurance normally cover stuff like that?

 

[AdBro]

My ears have been ringing since the mid 80's.

I actually have gotten used to it. Other than my kid hollering at me for waking him up with the TV at night, I've learned to just live with it and protect my hearing as much as possible now.

do you find that it doesnt get worse unless you do stupid things like shoot w/o muffs/protection on?

that would at least give me hope that i can control it doesn't get worse

 

[WHEC724]

do you find that it doesnt get worse unless you do stupid things like shoot w/o muffs/protection on?

that would at least give me hope that i can control it doesn't get worse

Yeah. I agree that the damage is cumulative, but there does seem to be some healing from acute damage. The last time that I rang them was about two years ago when I was shooting a .22 rifle, and had an over-charged round blow up (I didn't have any ear protection on). It actually hurt. I thought I was in serious trouble that day, but the next day it rang a little less, and after a few more days, I was back to my normal ring.

 

[AdBro]

so it took a few days to go down?

that gives me hope that the ringing from the blast from 48 hrs ago will subside a bit still

u know what worries me now? what if i have a SD issue where i need to fire? i know blasting my ears is better than my family being harmed, but maybe i should keep ear protection with my flashlight--the muffs with speakers so u can still hear.

 

[Civil_Response]

Spend that time getting your family to safety, I don't care if I go deaf protecting my family. Ear protection just isn't part of a defensive scenario in my book... living is.

 

[WHEC724]

so it took a few days to go down?

that gives me hope that the ringing from the blast from 48 hrs ago will subside a bit still

u know what worries me now? what if i have a SD issue where i need to fire? i know blasting my ears is better than my family being harmed, but maybe i should keep ear protection with my flashlight--the muffs with speakers so u can still hear.

LOL. That reminds me of a thread where Retsupt told us that he's trained his wife to plug her ears if things ever start looking dicey. I just love the visual on that one.

 

[GhostMaker]

so it took a few days to go down?

that gives me hope that the ringing from the blast from 48 hrs ago will subside a bit still

u know what worries me now? what if i have a SD issue where i need to fire? i know blasting my ears is better than my family being harmed, but maybe i should keep ear protection with my flashlight--the muffs with speakers so u can still hear.

Actually, you might be suprised when I say this....you likely will not notice the report of the shots. One of the first things we learned as police officers in Officer Survival is the effects of adrenaline during a gun fight. Not only can you suffer from Tunnel Vision, Time Distortion, and such, but you can also suffer from Auditory Exclusion. This being the deminishing of, or complete blocking of sound you are exposed to. A good percentage of cops, soldiers, and civilians who have been in deadly force encounters remark later that they never heard their firearm go off. There were a couple of encounters I had as a cop in which I had these adrenaline effects hit me, so I say this from experience. Don't worry with ear protection in a SD situation. In fact during the war we were told to throw away our issue ear plugs so that we could make best use of the senses we had.