.22 Handguns,Hearing Protection Important?

I have to use hearing aides now, because of the dumb butt things I did when I was younger and the areas I worked in.

I think the hearing aides saved my marriage... My wife does not come out of the bedroom at night yelling for me to turn down the TV or the radio.

If I had worn hearing protection, i would not need the hearing aides. I am 45 years old and it took a long time for me to understand that just because the ringing went away, it did not mean the damage was not done.
 
One or two shots will not cause noticable permanant hearing damage. Exposure to prolonged noise will. I wear hearing protection regardless. I am unfortuate enough that I suffer from heriditary hearing loss (mom went deaf in her early 30's, her mother same thing, and all of my aunts and uncles wear hearing aids, as well as my cousins.) I am now in my early 30's an working to get some hearing aids. Hearing loss has cost me working as a medic. I have always used hearing protection. When your hearing is gone it is gone, plain and simple. Good ear plugs are cheap, convinent, and easy to use.
 
Unfortunately not even the military required hearing protection when I was in.In Korea I was on the good side of the 1st sergeant and had a free pass to use range most any time I wanted.Then it was several years before it was required at the refinery where I worked.550# steam makes more noise than most handguns or rifles I have shot.I have over the years developed tinnitus that if an ear nose and throat specialist is honest will tell you that hearing aids are not going to help.Luckily my tinnitus comes and goes and even changes frequencies. Low frequencies are bothersome but high will drive you crazy.Also my favorite 22's are NAA 22 mags and are louder than my 9mm's. My little one draws quite a bit of attention as onlookers can't see the gun but they sure can hear it.
 
My hearing is fine! Can you just please speak more clearly and slower? Eh? What? You talking to me? What'd you say? Huh?

Oh, you may not "lose" your hearing, but you can easily get ringing in the ears that makes it hard to understand what is being said - even though you are able to hear it. I know.:(
 
Ehhhh, what did you say there, sonny??

I'm 53.
Back in the day (mid sixties), the "experts" didn't know about the effects the "crack" of repeated .22 fire had on young still developing ears.
Like most kids of the era, my parents shipped me off to summer camp every year. Dad filled my "spending account" with $50 for the week. Well, I spent every dime on ammo and, yes, I have hearing loss today!!

The only advantage I've had for it was that it did allow me to better ignore the rantings of my ex wife, but that's another story. ;)
 
I have become a big fan of the Aguila Super Colibri powder less ammo.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/AMM066-5.html

Propelled by primer force only they are surprisingly accurate and require no hearing protection outdoors IMO. Its a 20 grain slug at around 500 fps, enough to put a hole in a soup can, not much else. Perfect for revolvers; quiet target practice from a semi if you don't mind feeding rounds one at a time. Ive heard of folks using them on rats and such in barns, basements and the like.

Only downside is the overall cartridge length is slightly under most .22lr ammo. After firing 50 rounds or so, chambering a full length .22 takes a bit of force due to residue buildup.
 
+1 here for the half-deaf crowd

While I was still on active duty about 10 years ago, a concerned young specialist stepped into the soundproof booth to see if I had the earmuffs on the correct ears. . . ! My tinnitus was roaring in my ears, and the various cracks, pops, and peeps had me bumfuzzled about the possible sources of the sounds I was hearing. . .and still hear whenever it's "quiet."

Like many others who have already answered, I did a LOT of .22 rifle and pistol shooting without ear plugs back in my teens. Now, I wear $6000 worth of hearing aids to help me in conversation, watching TV, etc.

Just think how many really great guns I could have bought with the $6K????!!
 
the funny thing is that my brother is vice president of the mid michigan area Beltone hearing,and I never really asked him about hearing damage with handguns.I remember him saying that long term sound does more damage than short term sound,but he wasn't being specific to gun level dbs.I did something really stupid when I got my .357 snub,I fired a .38 right next to my house,then thought it wasn't so bad so I did the same thing with a full .357.My right ear was ringing and half deaf for 3 hours.It was my first handgun,so I had no idea they were that loud,I shot alot of deer rifles,shotguns and big bore rifles without it being as loud as that .357.I guess a handgun should only be shot without protection in defense of ones life,where life matters more than ears.
 
I once shot a .22 lr pocket pistol without hearing protection. It didn't seem so bad at the time, but a couple of hours later, I did notice a pain in my ear that stuck around for the rest of the day. Since then, even when I shoot .22 LR from a rifle (and my .22 rifle has a longer barrel than most) I use earplugs. Unless of course, using the powderless ammo. That stuff is so quiet I can barely tell the gun fired at all if a hole didn't show up in what I'm aiming at. Figure I'm pretty safe with that stuff without ear protection.
 
Exposure time vs decibel level

As you might guess, protracted exposure to lower levels of sound can be bad, and so can very short exposures to very high levels of sound.

http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/hearingloss.cfm

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/safety/work/226.html

Notice in the article the second link goes to, it says,
Using power tools (at about 100 dB), listening to loud stereo headsets (at about 110 dB), attending a rock concert (at about l20 dB) or hearing a gunshot (at 140 to 170 dB) may damage the hearing of some people after only a few times.
Click to expand...
 
I find the sharp pop of a .22 rimfire in a revolver just as painful to listen to as the deep boom of a large pistol. All the sound energy of a .22 is in a spectrum that is most harmful to hearing.

Most people with damaged hearing will tell you that they can hear your words, they just can't understand you. You lose the ability to hear the high frequencys and with it the ability to hear the consonants in speech, causing you to mis-hear a lot of words.
 
Had a friend who worked in a very noisy place, and was a pistol shooter, but never wore any hearing protection. Of course his hearing eventually eroded to near zero. All of us pushed on him to get hearing aids because we were tired of shouting and repeating. For years he said they were too expensive; then one day he showed up with a pair of them in his ears. We were amazed, and congratulated him for finally spending the money. Someone asked, "How much did they cost?". He looked at his watch and said, "About twenty past eleven".
 
Ear plugs are so inexpensive I can't imagine NOT wearing them. And a good set of earmuffs is a lifetime investment. I am still using a pair of David Clark's I bought back in 1972.
 
Generally, I wear hearing protection when shooting .22 long rifle. However, If I'm shooting .22 short from a rifle, I really don't need hearing protection. It's about as loud as a high-powered springer air rifle.
 
22 LR nearly as noisy as a jet engine-but for a only second.

If you want to be saying 'what' in 20 years dont use any protection..
 
I would never shoot without hearing protection.
I still fit in to the somewhat younger crowd, and have done what I consider to be considerable damage to my ears.
I have ringing, sometimes to the point of wondering if there is something seriously wrong with me. That goes away the second anything else makes a noise though.
Also, I have a hard time understanding people, particularlly in crowded situations. I have to turn my head to the side so that they are talking basically straight to my ear.
At 29 years old, this shouldnt be a problem.

I have never been shooting without ear protection, nor would I want to. I think I can attribute my problems to a mixture of loud music, concerts, drag races, and motorcycle riding. Even with a helmet on, it gets loud.

I like the suggestion of earplugs and then head phones. I think I will use that!
 
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:D I only have one ear that works really good any way so i only
put a plug in the good one for 22 and 410 when grouse hunting:D
 
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