Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Tinnitus

Is it possible to spend a lifetime shooting and not have ringing in your ears? I'm honestly to the point where I need to stop shooting without ear protection even in hunting situations, which is the only time I ever do shoot without protection.

Same. Suppressors should be encouraged and over the counter.

I have tinnitus, sometimes worse than others, but there is always a buzzing in the background.

I'm nearly deaf in my left ear due to having someone fire a rifle with the muzzle within 12" from my ear.

WHAT

I am with all of you. The ringing my ears sometimes is enuff to drive me INSANE. I use hearing protection and have. But have also worked in noisy shops or around equipment alot and it all has effected my hearing......
Suppressors should be cheap and over the counter to prevent this for everyone..........

Ouch. A "friend" did that to me once because a deer ran out in front of us. I know what that's like.

Yep had it for years, a constant ringing in the left ear.. Sometimes better than others. About deaf in that ear, right is also going down hill. In fact I am now looking into hearing aids.. Sometimes it sucks getting old.

I've had it for many years. I blame most of it on riding tractors without a cab, that had load exhaust. I've used hearing protection for shooting for a very long time, except in hunting situations. I have hearing aids, mainly because my insurance paid for them. I also have some Walker Power Muffs that I use on occasion when hunting. I guess I've gotten used to the constant ringing, and I have quite a bit of hearing loss as well. I've noticed the hearing loss more this turkey season than at any other time. I'm having trouble hearing them gobble, especially telling which direction it's coming from.

Hunting, plinking, whatever, if a gun is being regardless of caliber or gauge, I wear hearing protection.

I have had tinnitus for more than 40 yrs. now, some idiot fired a .357 Magnum before I had my hearing protection on. I tried hearing aids, none of the blocking features masked the ringing. I have learned to live with it, the left ear is the worst of the two.

I've had it for 45 or so years now.Mine was from long days driving those tractors on the farm when I was younger.I've tried taking things that are supposed to help with no luck.I try to remember to wear hearing protection when I'm doing activities that can cause tinnitus.If I don't the ringing gets worse.I can hear purty good,but some things distort my hearing,like a ceiling fan.Even though the fan is quiet,I can tell a big difference when it's off.

The shame of it is there is nothing they can do for it

35 years of printing presses gave me a chorus in my ears. I worked so many nights and didn't wear protection because senior management wasn't around. I try to liken it to the summer nights in Iowa growing up. Chicadas sounding off in the night air. Only way I keep what sanity I have left.

Since my teens I've worn something like these around my neck while hunting. Takes just a few seconds to put in your ears and well worth it

The guy who fired the rifle close to my left ear was a roommate at a house that I rented in Manhattan, KS, in 1983/84. We were hunting coyotes with our other roommate near White City, KS, and jump a coyote while headed to the spot where we would split up up along a canyon rim. The coyote ran to our right and Bill, who was a lefty, decided to shoot at it with the 222 barrel of his Savage 24V combination gun. He didn't get the coyote, but the muzzle blast sure got me.

There is hope on the horizon, gentlemen.
It would make my life easier, as well.

http://newatlas.com/hearing-loss-ha...tm_term=0_65b67362bd-593b4676bb-90030290

Zackly what I use.

Seems to me the shame of it is ever thinking you could do without ear protection.

For me? The shame of it is having to know I'll never do without it. Don't even remember what "silence" is anymore.

I'm with you gentlemen...have had the non-stop ringing for over 40 yrs. When I was a kid, daddy always made us put cotton in our ears. But when I became invincible (age of 15 or so...which coincidentally is the time I got a driver's license and a little freedom) I enjoyed taking my uncle's snub nose 38 and trying to melt the short barrel on it. Then when I was 20 I went to work in the oilfield around big engines and never wore ear protection. But by the time I realized I wasn't bulletproof, it was too late...but you already knew that.

Eddie

Not really sure what causes it, perhaps exposure to loud noises over time, I know I loved my loud music back in the day. I'm sure my 20 years in Navy working in either the engine or fire-room did not help any.

Same here as others. I like turkey hunting but cant even hear them gobble until they are on top of us. Have to go with a buddy who can hear. I even try to wear ear protection in the field anymore, but not always practical (jump shooting rabbits, pheasants, etc.)

Lately Ive been thinking of going from a 30-06/12 gauge to a 6.5x55/20 Gauge for the instances when I cant get plugs in. A day of pheasant shooting makes my ears ring for days. I also avoid short barrels.

Military and occupation have much to do with my tinnitus. I am just trying to preserve whats left.

Yes. It is possible, just as it is possible to drive for a lifetime with no traffic accidents. The more you protect -- I have double protected for decades -- the longer you keep from the ringing effect. However, if surprised, and I jump at noise rather than flinching from recoil myself, somebody (as has been said) can ruin itlike a perfect driving record.

The strange thing about all this is my older brother spent his entire adult life in a college classroom. Not noisy ones. He is just as bad or worse than me.

I've had it since I can remember. The only thing I can figure is it is because I had bad ear infections when I was young. Working in industry with no hearing protection didn't help.

I had a boss for 8 years who would ridicule you for wearing hearing protection while doing things like grinding. He did the same when you wore a respirator while spraying paint. He actually forbade me to wear ear protection because he said I couldn't hear him.


I chit you not!! That was the early 80's when you did all you could to hang on to a job.

Last I saw him he had hearing aids in both ears and looks like he's 75, and he's only two years older than me.


Being an azzhole and paying the price.

It can be brought on by medication too. My Supervisor was prescribed muscle relaxers and his ears have rang ever since he took the first one and it's been years.

YES, I'm in the same boat as most of you.

Self induced. Bullet Proof---till it was too late.
Left ear damaged the most - right handed, left ear toward muzzle.

My FIRST handgun was a Ruger Super Blackhawk, need I say more ?

I wish we had known 1/2 as much as we thot.

Jerry

From what I have been told by my Audiologist/ENT things will most likely not get any better.. I'm pretty much resigned to it is what it is.

At 63 I have had it more years that not, had hoped hearing aids would help mask it as it did for a friend but I was not so luckily. Today it is ringing louder than most days would be a great if there ever was a cure but I am not holding my breath.

I've got it bad in my left ear. I'm thinking it's years of driving a truck with the window down. My right ear has it just not as bad. When I shoot I use sponges & ear muffs.

I think there was a thread on this subject a while back and Lipo Flavinoid was brought up as a possible remedy. I bought some from my Costco Pharmacy and in 3 days my balance was severely affected not to mention the aftertaste that crap has.

I have an appointment next week with an ENT. I've had mild tinnitus for a few years in my left ear but the last several months it has gotten a lot worse and now my right ear is ringing too. I also feel like I've had nasal congestion for about the same amount of time sp I'm hoping its allergies or something else that's treatable.

Being 38 I'm hoping its not permanently flared up.

Went to the ENT and audiologist prescribed hearing aids. No matter how the blocking nois was programmed it did not cover up the ringing. Tinnitus is forever, the auditory nerve has been damaged or died and there is no cure.

Excuse me, I didn't ear what you said - the ringing in my ears is too loud.

Besides being born deaf in my left ear, my right ear hearing is now about 30% (according to an audiology test). Certainly, extensive shooting a 220 Swift and 30-06 in my youth didn't help.

A simple OTC therapy that may help some is to take Lipo-Flavinoid twice daily. I use it and it minimizes the ringing.

That's interesting!

This about wraps it up. The cilia in the inner ear are damaged and theres no fixing them, no home remedy cures, no snake oil, and no hearing aids that will work.

My left ear has been ringing non-stop for 51 years now, the right ear, only 48 years...

That explains a lot!

Yeah..I can't hear worth schitt....and my comprehension level is down too!

which likely correlates well with your give-a-chit level.

I've had it for years. A dumb blonde in the office asked me why I just didn't wear ear plugs.

Lipo-Flavinoid helps me a lot, also. Studies showed that after 60 days on it, 1/3 of the people had considerable relief, (like me), 1/3 had slight relief, and 1/3 had no relief.

That has been the experience with my friends. It helped some, and others not at all.

No one has mentioned Aspirin. Even baby aspirin. Tinnitus is a common side-effect of taking aspirin, for many people. I quit the daily baby aspirin routine my Dr had put me on, and it definitely helped lower the noise in my ears.

I'll have to check this out. I have had ringing in my ears for the past 8-9 years. Always bothersome and some days it drives me nuts. I have always worn ear protection while shooting (not while hunting) and this coincides with my starting to take a daily dose of aspirin.

Back in the day, I'm 79 years old, we didn't know any better. Some like myself used cotton balls which helped some but in actuality were totally useless. I shot .22s at age 11 to learn to shoot and did my first deer hunt on Labor Day weekend that same year. (1949) Hearing protection? Never heard of it, no pun intended.
When older cotton balls at the range but it was not until 1974 that I got a pair of muffs as a birthday present from my kids. I'd been shooting a Remington 660 .308 with 20" barrel and stiff loads using H335. The muzzle blast was so bad that I was flinching badly and the gun kicked like a very PO'ed mule. I was surprised as hell that I didn't miss my deer that year due to the flinch.
Well I tried the muffs and wow, where did the kick go? Been using them ever since.
These days I use a set that I can turn on or off at the range plus plugs. I use them on my hunts as well as they act like hearing aids, not to mention they do a great job keeping my ears warm.
That's the good news. The bad is it's gone into Meniers disease (vertigo) and I'm almost totally deaf in my right ear,lost 90 percent in the high frequency range in both and only have maybe 50 percent left in the left ear.
Not all damage was from shooting though. Worked in an industry where I used an air hammer similar to those used in breaking up concrete and streets. Loud as hell and no protection. OSHA hadn't struck there yet. Probably didn't even exit in 1966. Loud live rock concerts probably didn't help matter either.
Not being able to hear ain't fun. I'm doing the best I can to keep what little I have left.
Paul B.

I have significant ringing myself. Also have hearing loss and use hearing aids (7000.00 worth) that have a setting to control tinnitus but doesn't work for me. I am a tinsnith and a gas fitter and never wore hearing aids during work in the early days-nobody did. While Shooting ,we used cotton (on occassion) . I have no complaints though,I chose everything that caused the hearing loss...Tony

I have ringing in my left ear and always blamed our drummer's crash cymbal that was next to me. About the time I wised up and started wearing a plug in that ear, we all but quit gigging.

I bought some Ear Ringing Oil a while back.It didn't help,so I quit using it.For the last two days I mistakenly put it in my eyes thinking it was eye drops I had in a similar bottle.Burned like hell,didn't help my eyes either,threw it in the trash now.

Clinical studies have shown the tobacco, alcohol,and caffeine can worsen the intensity of the tinnitus on the day of consumption. I love cigars and coffee, and on the days when I have a wee bit too much the tinnitus worsens.

My version sounds like a field full of crickets. Fortunately, I find that sound quite pleasing.

That's one way to beat it! Enjoy it!

I have rarely shot without protection.

Mostly all plugs. Some custom molded.

Then I got tinnintus. Asked the doc WTF... he said you would have had to use muffs the whole time. Why? Because the "sound" also hits your face and transfers around the bones of the ear according to him.... so with plugs only and shooting you are eventually doomed.

huh ? What did you say ?

if i remember correctly, tinnitus related to aspirin is usually associated with higher doses and advancing age. decreasing the dose of aspirin apparently diminishes or eliminates the tinnitus. can't do much about the calendar

Good to know!

Picked up Electronic Shooters Protection Analog model last year.

Enhancement function works well and never hunt without them.

My hearing in my left ear is almost gone and my right one is not good... I have been wearing Peltor Tac 7 electronic ear muffs (they no longer make that model) to help for about 16 years but NOTHING helps when you shoot a lot. Your bones around your ear transmit a certain amount of the concussion and that can still damage your hearing.

On the advice of several friends I went to Costco and got hearing aids. They had the best prices around and the latest in technology. I can control them completely with my iPhone and love them but I take them out and use the Tac 7 muffs for shooting.

I have absolutely NO affiliation with Costco or ReSound Hearing Aids other than being a very satisfied customer. They cost me $2600 total for both of them and they come with a 3 year no cost no deductible or copay warranty and unlimited free support.

Yes... We NEED suppressors so our young shooters don't end up nearly deaf like us old farts... LOL

If you want to answer me please type as loudly as possible so I can hear you...

I've got a moderate case in my right ear. Varies in intensity and only rarely gets annoying. I was an early adopter of muffs, but never wore anything while hunting until last year when I started plugging up for doves.

I suspect that most of my hearing issues, including some voice-frequency loss, is due to forty years spent in telephone central offices with high levels of mechanical noise from switches, relays, high-speed cooling fans, big-ass air handlers, and alarms. The only place we were required to wear protection was in the auxiliary generator room when the engine(s) or turbines were running.

When we were installing a network of switches for GSA in the 90's the gummint reps made us perform all kinds of tests to demonstrate compliance with the regs, including light levels in work areas. They never showed any interest in noise levels though. Probably knew it wouldn't look good.

I so envy you. Super-high tuning forks here due to infections as an infant and kid. Such a drain they are.

I shot my muzzle braked rifle without ear protection while hunting last year. Twice, bang bang.
I have ringing in my ears laying in bed at night, or when it's quiet in the house.
Only 51 years old.
It sucks.

Its in my left ear tonight.

I suppose its a lifetime around heavy machinery.

Some things I hear really well, others not so much. I suppose it is bad for 34.

40 years old, both ears for as long as I remember....im not sure I could fall asleep with out the constant eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Going in tomorrow for an appointment at the VA, First time.. Tricare Insurance does not pay for hearing aids. Tinnitus in the left ear, almost def there. Not expecting much help. Right ear hoping to get closer to normal again.

Tricare won't pay for hearing aids?!?!
"Here, infantryman, fire this howitzer - and fear not, we won't pay for your hearing aids when you are near deaf 30 years from now!"
That is F'ed up.

Light constant buzzing began 2 years ago for me. Kinda got use to it & forgot about it till I seen this thread. Yep, now I hear the buzz...thanks OP.

Thats a good representation! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE is definitely it!

Yep.

I stopped taking my daily low dose aspirin a week ago. No change with the tinnitus. I'm 62. I'll give it another couple weeks. Bob

Sorry man. Misery loves company.

Speak up

About right...when I was a young fellow I just thought all the old blokes were ignorant old pricks, now I am an ignorant old prick I realise they probably couldn't hear anything either.