Posted on 07/14/2017 1:20:58 PM PDT by WKTimpco
I wish I had paid attention to loud noises when I was in my teens and 20s. I experienced the whole cornucopia of hearing-destroying things: gun fire, CanAm and TransAm races, BIG rock concerts in cities, factory floors with impact machinery, power plants with steam line and gas line blows, coal pulverized, safety valve setting, unmuffled lawn mowers, exploding bicycle tires, homemade explosives (also brought a sledge hammer down on an entire roll of cap gun caps to see what would happen), loud rock on headphones, loud wood and metal shops.
As a result, I began noticing tinnitus in my 30s and it is a constant hissing / whining / shrieking noise with no let up. Ever.
Fortunately, I haven’t experienced a lot of frequency loss which is absolutely remarkable. It is unfortunate because I love listening to music and this takes away a lot of enjoyment.
After the irreversible damage was done, I started paying attention to noisy environments and protecting my hearing. But the horse had already fled the barn.
My uncle can’t hear birds anymore. Too much gunfire in his past.
WHAT?
Did a lot of shooting/plinking/hunting w/o hearing protection in my younger days - have ringing and loss of high frequency.
With an air gun you’ll save $ too.
I see that many others have provided most of the info I was going to write :-) FReepers are awesome.
When I finally admitted to myself that I was missing huge amounts of conversation, and sounding like a dummy ("What? What?"), I checked with my insurance and was fortunate to be able to spring for some high-end digital (DSP) programmable hearing aids (Oticon Alsa 2) which have saved my marriage and my job. That is no exaggeration. Seriously, what is that worth?
Tell everyone around you -- especially young folks -- that hearing has to be protected around loud noises. I was told when I was a kid but I didn't listen because I wanted to play loud rock-n-roll. Oh well, live and learn; thank God for digital hearing aids. Don't bother with the cheap ones. I tried them, I tried the "amplifiers", all that. They're cr@p compared to real hearing aids.
Good luck and God Bless.
I’m curious if there was ever a time when you shot without hearing protection?
Such things weren’t much of a concern when I was young, and I hunted a fair amount with both 12 gauge and .22 without hearing protection. That, plus loud music later has left me with significant tinnitus, although thankfully I still hear OK. I do need to get to an audiologist for some formal testing one of these days. I still hunt and shoot, but always with hearing protection.
I’m in a similar situation as yourself with a young son - I’m in my 50s...
On the way to THE ONE Grand Show...
Highly recommend seeing. :)
Have your Audiologist prescribe a suppressor, AND get your insurance company to pay for it. THAT ought to get insurance companies to lobby for the Hearing Protection Act.
“I’m curious if there was ever a time when you shot without hearing protection?”
I had a .25 pistol in my early 20s and very occasionally went without protection for a round or two. I also went to a very few rock concerts in my 20s where I left with ringing in my ears. I always told my friends that I didn’t understand the enjoyment of EXTREMELY loud, painful rock-concert music... can’t hear the notes... just loud noise. So I mostly avoided those concerts.
I never listened... are you ready for this... to my Sony Walkman turned up high like my step-brother did. Never understood that either. I probably did spend too many hours in a blues club of one sort or another with the loud music, but not as loud as those ridiculous concerts.
Later, when I bought some guns again, I always used protection. I knew that ringing in the ears meant damage. I didn’t always double up, but I knew the plugs had to be compressed, ear pulled back, plug deep in the ear and wait for decompression in the ear.
When I was a kid I used to play around with fire crackers, and a few times the fuse was so quick I could barely throw the cracker away without burning my hand, nevermind plugging the ears.
But none of the mortar fire or warfare or years of heavy machinery operation that other people are talking about. Bottom line: it looks like I’m susceptible to hearing loss. I’m not going to stop with the firearms just yet. I’m doing a lot of research now on custom fitted plugs made by an audiologist combined with the really good muffs and then going back in a year to see if any more deterioration occurred.
Worst case scenario: I go predator or varmint hunting with a .22 WMR rifle and learn to use a bow for harvesting deer. Might be more sporting way in any case. I’ve also been meaning to do more fishing anyway. Thanks.
Db pressure to Caliber...
Thanks
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