Permanent Hearing Damage After One Trip?

[NOTABIKER]

try shooting a M-14 with fellow shooters on both sides of you maybe 7-8 feet from you. Do this for hours on end for a week without ear protection. Millions did it in the military. It is not likely permanent damage was done.But it is possible.

[ez2b]

Op I did the same exact thing gave my muffs to other people used plugs and now I have tinnitus constant ringing of the ears it has to be related to that but I'm getting by it's been probably 6 years now

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[OpenSightsOnly]

Thanks everybody. I'm setting an appointment with doctors right now.

No disrespect but if you think something is wrong with your hearing why go here and wait for 24 posted responses? Are you waiting for us to encourage you to go see a doctor?

[kmas]

OriginalPosition - Are you still here??

Read my previous post again.

140dB is regarded as the threshold of pain.

Here's the data I promised, copied and pasted from my course notes (when you probably were a wee lad):

(this data is compiled by the Central Institute for the Deaf and Ball State university - most of it & other data is probably all over the internet - so do some judicious searches for reports and publications)

CENTERFIRE PISTOL DATA
.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
The above averages are for all types of ammunition used in these firearms, and should be considered fairly representative.
Acoustic traumas do occur to hearing as a result of just one shot.


85 - 140

[kmas]

Cautions for All of us Shooters

For those of us in indoor ranges, the effect is even WORSE - not only because of the echo chamber effect, but other's gunshots add to the intensity and damage.

According to Dr. William Clark, Ph.D. senior research scientist in charge of the NOISE LABORATORY at the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, the damage caused by one shot from a .357 magnum pistol, which can expose a shooter to 165 dB for 2msec, is equivalent to over 40 hours in a noisy workplace.

Dr. Krammer, Ph.D., Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana adds that sound pressure levels for the various pistols and ammunition tested yielded an average mean of 157.5 dB, which is greater than those previously shown for shotgun and rifle noise levels.

There was also a greater range, from 152.4dB to 164.5dB, representing 12 dB difference, or more than 10 times as much acoustic energy for the top end of the pistol spectrum.

It should be noticed that this figure of 164.5 dB approaches the practical limit of impulse noise measurement capability inherent in most modern sound level meters.

[bountyhunter]

Hello All,

Last week, I took my cousins out shooting for their first time. I gave them all ear muffs (which I've had great experience with), and I tried out using only ear plugs. My plugs either did not seat well, or didn't offer adequate protection for my ears and I've been having problems ever since. The hearing in my left ear was gone for most of the day, and it's been coming back...but slowly.

Long story short, it's been 7 days and my hearing isn't all back...the volume is there, but some sounds still sound like I'm under water.

Does anyone else have some experience or insight on what's going to happen with my hearing? Is this permanent?

I'm a little anxious right now, because I'm just 30 years old and am afraid that I've done some permanent damage after one bad choice of using the wrong kind of hearing protection.

Thanks.

No way to know for sure but it's likely there is some hearing loss. +1 on getting the ears cleaned and seeing a doctor.

[Thepug99]

When I see foam plugs on people most people don't have them in deep enough. It makes a big difference if you put it on correctly. The protection rating is higher on a good foam than the best earmuffs.

[Pardini]

I use nothing but foam plugs, they are better than muffs but they have to be used correctly. You may think this is crazy but it's happened to me several times. The plugs push a hair deep in to the ear canal and it rubs the sides and gives exactly the same sensation as water in the ear.

[theOriginalPosition]

First of all, thank you for all of your input.

Update #1:
I went to urgent care and the doctor checked my ears and saw no wax, but saw that the inner ear was slightly inflamed. His take on it was that the hearing will continue to improve, but that it might take some more time.

What he did do was, he saw that my high blood pressure was on the high side and he put me on a very mild dose of blood pressure medication for a month. I took the first dose, then went to sleep and the sinus pressure really went down. Faint ringing in left ear and slight underwater noise remains.

The next step is to finish the medication and meet with my Primary Care Physician in the next month.

Thank you all for your information.

[crackerman]

First of all, thank you for all of your input.

Update #1:
I went to urgent care and the doctor checked my ears and saw no wax, but saw that the inner ear was slightly inflamed. His take on it was that the hearing will continue to improve, but that it might take some more time.

What he did do was, he saw that my high blood pressure was on the high side and he put me on a very mild dose of blood pressure medication for a month. I took the first dose, then went to sleep and the sinus pressure really went down. Faint ringing in left ear and slight underwater noise remains.

The next step is to finish the medication and meet with my Primary Care Physician in the next month.

Thank you all for your information.

Good to hear

I had a really bad sinus infection that spread to my ear drums. Not being able to hear sucks. I had the same symptoms went to urgent care then had to go back after 1 week and get better stronger meds. Who the hell knew you can get bruised eardrums?

Ride out the meds, take them all and follow up with the GP. That is what I did and all my hearing came back to where it had been.
(I still get a little tinutis form time to time but that was unrelated to this.

[Jimmybikes]

First of all, thank you for all of your input.

Update #1:
I went to urgent care and the doctor checked my ears and saw no wax, but saw that the inner ear was slightly inflamed. His take on it was that the hearing will continue to improve, but that it might take some more time.

What he did do was, he saw that my high blood pressure was on the high side and he put me on a very mild dose of blood pressure medication for a month. I took the first dose, then went to sleep and the sinus pressure really went down. Faint ringing in left ear and slight underwater noise remains.

The next step is to finish the medication and meet with my Primary Care Physician in the next month.

Thank you all for your information.

Another case of gun ownership and shooting practice saving lives
On a serious note. It sounds like things are going to work out. Good luck with everything op.

[bohoki]

ear candles are complete nonsense

[greensoup]

+1 on that...

I didn't recommend because some people get scared to do it...

-1

Ear doctor told me this is a terrible idea. Can trigger more serious problems like ear infections.

[sigstroker]

Always be careful putting anything in your ears, if your ear drum is ruptured the liquid can go into your middle ear and cause permanent damage. Also some ear canals can be irritated and inflamed by things like peroxide, especially if they were irritated by things like ear plugs.

Go to the doctor.

Yup. They will wash out your ears without "scooping" anything or poking anything in there.

Could be permanent damage though. Happened to me.

[theOriginalPosition]

Update #2:
After more than 2 months, I'm just feeling like my hearing is back to normal. All of my frequencies are back, but now my ears are much more sensitive to loud noises.

Lesson learned. Feel very glad to have my hearing back.

The ringing in my left ear is also 95%+ gone.