Posted on 07/14/2017 1:20:58 PM PDT by WKTimpco
Reduce the time at the range - 1 hr max
Get some ear muffs 25 db or higher AND use ear plugs. Avoid indoor ranges
WKTimpco is not over-reacting.
I received Expert rating in M=1 Rifle, M-1 Carbine, B/ A. R., and Master Gunner on the 81mm mortar. By age 30 hearing tests established that my upper frequencies were gone, and I attribute this to the deafening periods after large-caliber training.
Aging brings loss of upper frequencies anyway, but early destruction aggravates this loss. You will never find me on the range without ear plugs and a headset over them.
In any group discussion, I need audio device assistance for those people who have never been taught to speak with enough volume, resonance, and enunciation to reach hard-to-hear ears without amplification. Even then, a nasal tone blocks good communication.
Please do not mock anyone who experiences this effect. You are not helping in promoting preservation of one's hearing.
I personally know two audiologists who have taken up this profession simply because their own hearing has been injured, and are trying to help others to compensate for the loss.
And, yes, one's mental state also suffers because of the extra effort needed to understand what others are saying.
Me thinks your user name sez it all.
For me between HU16E and C123 recep engines for 12 hours a day and Jet engines on top of that with a few rounds of amo thrown in for good measure its amazing all I have is tinitus
In the same boat. I was 13-B in the Army and the 175’s, 8 inch and 155’s took their toll. The invisible handicap.
“You will never find me on the range without ear plugs and a headset over them.”
Thanks for the info. Have you found, through audiological testing, that the doubling up of protection on the range may have prevented further hearing loss? Thanks so much!
Nearing 200 db, the “sound” can literally kill you. Liquefies organs. D-day saw some of our brave soldiers killed that way. Thank God for our heroes.
After a certain point there is no return.. I was told by this Hearing Specialist Doctor that I would be completely deaf.. that was in 2005 well I’m almost there.
I retired in the beginning of 2007.. It has steadily gotten worst..
Gradual hearing loss may occur after prolonged exposure to 90 decibels or above.
Exposure to 100 decibels for more than 15 minutes can cause hearing loss.
Exposure to 110 decibels for more than a minute can cause permanent hearing loss.
At 140 dBA noise causes immediate injury to almost any unprotected ear.
There is also the more extreme ‘acoustic trauma’, which is an immediate loss of hearing after a sudden, exceptionally loud noise such as an explosion.
Excerpts from a related article: “When someone goes to a concert, cuts grass or runs a power saw, they can suffer from NIHL,” said Dr. George Hashisaki, assistant professor of otolaryngology at the University of Virginia Health System. “Afterwards, if their hearing is muffled or their ears are ringing, they have suffered NIHL. Even if their hearing comes back to what they perceive as normal, a small part of that hearing loss is permanent."
"People who are most in jeopardy of losing their hearing are those who use firearms regularly without ear protection or who are in the military and unable to wear hearing protection, such as those on the frontlines, Hashisaki said. The noise level of gunshots can reach 170 dB and is capable of immediate damage. Hashisaki recommends wearing both earplugs and earmuffs to protect hearing while target shooting."
Comparative noise levels and corresponding damage:
12 gauge shotgun 165 dB Instant damage
Jet engine taking off 140 dB Instant damage
Thunder/Ambulance siren 119 dB 3 minutes
Hammer drill 113 dB 15 minutes
Chain saw/Earphones/Concert 110 dB 30 minutes
Bull Dozer 105 dB 1 hour
Tractor/Power tools 96 dB 4 hour
Hairdryer/lawnmower 90 dB 8 hours
Here are noise levels of firearms:
.22 caliber rifle 130dB
.223, 55GR. Commercial load 18" barrel 155.5dB
.243 in 22" barrel 155.9dB
.30-30 in 20" barrel 156.0dB.
7mm Magnum in 20" barrel 157.5dB.
.308 in 24" barrel 156.2dB.
.30-06 in 24" barrel 158.5dB. In 18" barrel 163.2dB.
.375 18" barrel with muzzle brake 170 dB.
.410 Bore 28" barrel 150dB. 26" barrel 150.25dB. 18" barrel 156.30dB.
20 Gauge 28" barrel 152.50dB. 22" barrel 154.75dB.
12 Gauge 28" barrel 151.50dB. 26" barrel 156.10dB. 18" barrel 161.50dB.
.25 ACP 155.0 dB.
.32 LONG 152.4 dB.
.32 ACP 153.5 dB.
.380 157.7 dB.
9mm 159.8 dB.
.38 S&W 153.5 dB.
.38 Spl 156.3 dB.
.357 Magnum 164.3 dB.
.41 Magnum 163.2 dB.
.44 Spl 155.9 dB.
.45 ACP 157.0 dB.
.45 COLT 154.7 dB.
Protective measures:
Properly fitted earplugs or muffs reduce noise 15 to 30 dB. The better earplugs and muffs are approximately equal in sound reductions, although earplugs are better for low frequency noise and earmuffs for high frequency noise.
Using muffs and plugs together: Take the higher of the two and add 5 dB. 30 plug with 20 muff gives an effective NRR of 35.
If you are shooting by yourself, roughly 100 rounds of 140 dB instantaneous noise in a day should not produce hearing damage. Put your plugs and muffs on and you get to shoot up to a thousand rounds without damage (louder ammo/gun and the allowable drops by a factor of 5). Shoot with other people and you have to add all the rounds shot cumulatively (10 people shoot 100 rounds and everybody's done for the day; toss a handcannon or 30 cal rifle in and you're back down to 200 rounds cumulative). If you shoot on an indoor range then all the rounds fired while you are on the range go into your total. So you can see that it doesn't take very long on a range to have a thousand rounds popped off around you.
If you want to know what the noise level you are exposed to is you can rent noise dosimeters that you can wear. They will record the total noise exposure and present the information to you as dB. You can then subtract the adjusted combined NRR of your hearing protection to determine if you're getting too much exposure.
I have no experience with it, but I have read accounts of people using Traditional Chinese Medicine to help with hearing loss.
In the TCM theory system, hearing loss is related to some greater category of illnesses called Kidney issues, that encompasses hair loss, hair greying, genitourinary issues, back problems, knee problems, fear/emotion imbalances (including lack of fear or excessive fear), and foot issues.
Hearing loss is supposedly related to hair loss, as hearing is done by very fine hairs in the inner ear which are lost as one gets older. Since the hair loss has been shown to have an inflammatory component, and the TCM can alter inflammatory activity using herbs and acupuncture, TCM doctors are able to modulate the inflammation somewhat and help with the issue. People do say it helps, but whether it is placebo or not, I can’t say definitively. Then again, a placebo fix is a fix.
TCM doctors are very affected by experience, and it is not uncommon to find one TCM doctor is amazing at curing one disorder like hyperthyroidism, but not as good at other issues he sees rarely, while another doctor may be awesome at the other issues, and not so good at the hypothyroidism. Chinese trained, and decades of experience are desirable.
Hope it helps.
And also use quality muffs. You get what you pay for.
The muffling will not prevent further hearing loss. But it will help to muffle sounds that would aggravate hearing losses.
As you age, ou are going to have more hearing loss, and your audiologist will tell you that, but the rate of loss can be diminished, IMO.
Mere across-the-board amplification of normal environments may actually promote loss, by hurtfully overaccentuating loudness in the frequency range(s) that you do not need more loudness, in order to get the amplification in a range that you do need it.
True hearing aids are set to match your tested needs. Hearing aids are only devices to compensate for loss, according to the frequency spectrum in which your loss has occurred. As time goes on, a hearing aid will need readjustment to accommodate your hearing spectrum changes, AFIK. (I am a scientist, actually a spectroscopist, but not a trained audiologist)
BTW, because of my losses, tinnitus has been with me all the time for fifty years or more. And in different frequencies in my left side than my right side. You just have to get used to it, and ignore it.
Also, make an appointment to set up a biannual ear cleaning with your local ENT. That'll drive the wax in deep also.
“How much hearing loss?”
The audiologist said I won’t go completely deaf, but the loss could be grievous in the long run nonetheless. There’s a lot hearing left. I might as well try to stop any more loss now that it’s in its early stages. It’s one of those things that creeps up on you. You don’t know anything is wrong until your spouse has to keep yelling at you from the bedroom to turn down the TV. By then it’s largely too late.
I happened to be a Front Site gun training in Pahrump NV. Sport Ear was giving away free hearing tests as part of their sales effort. That was the first I became aware of my hearing loss. After I returned home, a real audiologist confirmed the loss. I think I caught it pretty early, if that helps.
From all the responses, I think I’ll try the fitted, silicone plugs with the absolute best muffs and then get tested in a year. The audiologists said the tests are very accurate and precise. And no more indoor ranges. There is an outdoor range near where I live with no back walls, and the 50-yard portion of the range has no roof. Thanks!
Better hearing protection will always help. Reducing the noise reduces noise caused damage. When you retest in a year do it with a different audiologist, this guy seems weird. I did a hearing test last year, he gave me the results, bit more high frequency loss in the left than the right, which is where my tinnitus is so no surprise there. I asked “for a 47 year old who loves heavy metal and goes to concerts how is it”, his answer was “better than I’d expect”. You need a straight dope guy, not a “and here’s my line of hearing aids” guy.
And, you still have no experience with it.
I dunno if you’d wanna hear about it, but I got hearing aids for a hearing issue I’ve had since birth, and they’ve changed my life for the better, I don’t have to nod and pretend I heard things other people say anymore. My hearing loss is 6-12 decibels below normal, worse at higher frequencies. If you’re looking for a specific brand, Siemens has been wonderful for me
1. The vast majority of my shooting is with silenced weapons. It takes time to get there (10-12 month wait), but it’s well worth it. My silenced .22 is barely louder than a misfire, particularly with subsonic or “quiet” ammo (and I’ve checked with no hearing protection when I’m the only person on the range). My silenced .308 is as loud as a typical .22LR.
2. I mostly shoot at quieter times of day. For my range, that’s when they first open on weekdays (you might not be able to do that, but workdays in the morning are quiet), and I don’t shoot near people with a .30 cal or larger.
3. Since the weapon closest to me is very quiet and I’m not near loud weapons, I have a lot less temporary effect on my hearing after going to the range.
Extra cost? $600-$1200 per silencer, plus a $200 tax stamp so I can wait 10 months before using my silencer. Very much worth it if you have the money.
A word of advice...
*Hearing impaired* is the hearing world's term for hearing loss.
Those who are born with hearing loss and grow up in the Deaf culture, do not see themselves as *impaired* which implies there is something wrong with them, and they reject and resent the label of hearing impaired put on them by the hearing world.
They consider themselves *Deaf* (with a capital *D*) whether they are hard of hearing or profoundly deaf. It is a cultural thing and their sense of community and identity stems from it.
If you have hearing loss and they know it, they will accept you as part of their culture and community. But for your own sake, don't tell them you are *hearing impaired*.
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