gun blasts and your hearing

B

BAB

New member
Last night while discussing firearms and related topics with my brother we got on the side-topic of gun blasts and hearing. Since most people wear ear protection when they know they or someone around them will be shooting, our main thrust was the consequences of shooting without protection, namely in self-defense situations and in law enforcement.

This left us with many questions, which I will pose to you all. First, what kinds of studies have been done on the effects of gun blasts on the human ear and its hearing ability, and where can I find them? What are the consequences of shooting without hearing protection, indoors and out? Can one permanently lose all or a significant portion of one's hearing ability with just one or a few blasts? Should potential hearing damage, especially as may be caused with powerful rounds being discharged indoors, be a consideration when choosing a self-defense round? I'd like to hear any real-life stories, first, second, third-hand, etc., of people being exposed with unprotected ears to gun blasts, and any temporary/permanent consequences (aside from the obvious ringing in the ears), especially from LEOs who have been in shootouts, and from folks who posted in the Famous Firearm Follies thread over in "Handguns and Pistol Craft". I would assume that the vast majority of accidental discharges occur without hearing protection, since they are unexpected. I read the Famous Firearms Follies thread last night, after talking with my brother, and read of all kinds of discharges with many types of firearms, many indoors or close to people. What effects, if any, did these events have on your permanent hearing?

Thanks all.
 
Eh? Eh? Hearing?

#1, It's cumulative. Repetition of loud, constant noise, or repetition of impact-noise is what wipes out your hearing. Over time, you start losing the nerve-receptacles in the middle of the human speech range, so you wind up hearing someone talking, but the background talk or music make their speech unintelligible. Sometimes a boon.

#2. In a stress situation, such as for self-defense shooting, everything closes down with the adrenalin rush. I've never heard my '06 go off when shooting a deer...

#3. A .357 full-house load going off in a closet leaves the ears ringing, but it's a short-term problem. Doing it regularly gets back to "cumulative".

#4. Being too close to the unexpected blast of a naval 5" gun will give an instant, excruciating headache, tinnitis, pain, agony, and temporarily-poor hearing. Don't be there. Again, one recovers, but repetition gives the cumulative-effect problem.

In summary, one-time or occasional high-DB events are less of a problem than repeated events such as many hours at a range or all day at an airport flightline. One of the worst workplaces for noise I ever saw was GM truck&coach at Pontiac, Michigan, with eight zillion rivet guns going...
 
I have acquaintances who are totally deaf in one ear or the other, depending on whether they're right or left handed, from prolonged M16 use during their Southeast Asia experience. My ears ring all the time. It's usually not noticeable during the day, when there's a lot of conversation, wind, traffic noise, whatever, but at night here in the mountains there isn't any noise, and it's like a constant high frequency singing/buzz.
 
My AD/ND was loud but my ears did not ring. I have hunted deer and the shots fired have not bothered my hearing, the same when I was small game hunting. The shots fired during my shootout were not loud at all, more like capguns going off.

Having said that, I have also fired a .45ACP while I had my left ear plug not fitted properly, one shot and I had ringing in the ear for days and I was worried that it would not stop.

In stressfull events "AUDITORY EXCLUSION" happens where sounds are muffled. It is part of your body's attempt to protect itself. If one is in a prolonged combat situation, this stress protection lessens and hearing damage can occure.

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Ne Conjuge Nobiscum
"If there be treachery, let there be jehad!"



[This message has been edited by Jim V (edited July 19, 1999).]
 
Had a 3" .357 w/125 gr bullets go off ~18" from my left ear in a closed room last July 4th and it took around a day to a day and a half to get all my hearing back in that ear and the ringing to stop. No probs since, but I hope it doesn't mean that I'll save money on stereos in the future. I'm not looking forward to tinnitus, either. I double plug at the range.
 
I know that most of the soundwaves are directed down the ear canal, but are there any long term effects for sound that is transmitted through the skull when the ear canals are blocked?

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John/az

"The middle of the road between the extremes of good and evil, is evil. When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..."
 
I worked 15 years in factory noise and am currently a LEO.(pistol instructor).I have hearing damage and suffer from tinnitus.Tinnitus isa constant ringing in the ears. It can be caused by one very loud noise(gunshot ,one rock concert) or over a perid of time.Believe me , it can drive you crazy.Protect those ears because the damage will sneak up on you!Wear ear plugs and muffs ,especially at indoor ranges.The muffs ,such as Dillions or Peltors should be rated at 29 nrr or better.If you suffer from tinnitus, contact the American Tinnitus Association (don't know the website offhand but you can find it through a search engine).
 
Art Eastman:

You have said it the best. After 40 years working with firearms, and wearing hearing protection I wear hearing aids. Even thoung protection is worn the cumulative aspects can be detrimental.

One must keep in mind that my situation is not that of the average shooter. For over 15 yrs I was a "Line Instructor" and spent nearly every day, 8hrs, on the fireing line. Repetive rifle, shotgun, pistol machine gun and testing of firearms has taken it's toll. I do not regret it. Those were the best times in my life. Loved the job.

I must commment on the hearing aids. They have restored my hearing to 85% of what I use to have. they are digital and loud bangs etc are shut off, making them an instant ear plug. Would you believe I heard a rabbit fart just before he took off running. That's how good they are. Just a little humor guys.

HJN
 
Harley, please post data on said hearing aid company! I've abused mine too long. Outdoor concerts were ok for the ears, pretty rough on your mind, but indoor concerts, working on jets and turboprop aircraft plus the shooting have done their toll.
Good Shooting, Hank
 
It was work not guns that caused my hearing to go bad. I always wear hearing protection at the range, but foolishly, never did at work. Twenty plus years of listening to diesel engines got me. I've got exactly the kind of loss Art Eatman was talking about, right in the middle of the range of human speech. If there is alot of background noise or maybe a crowded room, if I'm not looking right at you I'll never hear you. I also suffer from tinnitus. My ears have a low ring in the background all the time.
I can't stress enough PROTECT YOUR HEARING.

On the positive side, I can get away with ignoring people who bother me.
"Huh? What? Were you talkin' to me?" :)
 
Mine is down about 20% from shooting, etc, and the main thing that I notice is the inability to "multi task." In other words, I can no longer easily listen to a radio and a person speaking to me at the same time. The radio goes off.

My father tells me of the selectivity of the "auditory exclusion." When the balloon went up on him in a car chase 30 years ago, he had no sense of blast from the High Power he was firing at the car ahead of him (he was driving), but that he clearly remembers hearing the cases clanking on the roof.

I have never had the shot *I* fired hurt when initially shooting a deer, but, interestingly enough, my ears rang for a day after issuing a coup de gras on a large buck last fall with a 4 3/8" Blackhawk with some very serious 320 grain loads (1200 fps, and we call 'em "Rhino Rollers"). (Have since been considering carrying a round or two of .44 Special for just such occurrances. Had plenty of time...)

Shots from other hunter's firearms routinely cause ringing for me.

[This message has been edited by Long Path (edited July 19, 1999).]
 
Wanted to know how loud a tec-9 sounded when fired from a car and since i go shooting on open range, i tried it. Thought i had busted my ear drums...lesson learned, i'll never try that again unless it is a shoot or die situation.
 
Ive been around guns all my life and have hearing loss accumulated mostly from field artillery when the only ear protection was from filters torn from cigarettes.
But its all relative. Years ago I told my teen-age son that all of his generation would be deaf from loud music. He agreed but said that they would have very healthy feet.
My family says that I have selective hearing and they might be right.

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Better days to be,

Ed
 
I also have about a 20-30% hearing loss, thanks to lots of shooting and music (I play bass.) I have the constant ringing (which I never notice unless I think about it) and the middle frequency loss. Most of the loss probably occured in my younger years from so much dove hunting w/o hearing protection. Outdoor shots of course aren't as hard as indoor, but still, that cumulative factor gets you.
I think the greatest boon to outdoorsmen in the field may be the electronic muffs which allow normal speech but still filter out gunshots. I don't know how well they'd work for picking up a dove hunter's "one coming over the field" whistle, though, or for picking up the sounds of a deer soflty crossing through the leaves.

Interesting thing I discovered about playing bass-it's harder on your bladder than your ears. Spend an hour in front of twin 18" speakers powered by 500W, putting out low frrequency sound at high volume-you will quickly discover that immediately before each set, you need to void; otherwise, cramps set in after about 30 minutes.<G>

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Shoot straight regards, Richard
The Shottist's Center forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=45acp45lc
 
Ya know, there is a simple device that will protect your hearing while shooting. It not only protects your hearing it reduces the muzzle blast to as not to disturb others (i.e. those living around a range).

Unfortunitly, our Government has, since 34, effectively banned these. Prior to 34 they use to be readily available and cheep. Now there is only a handful of companies makeing them, they are fairly expensive (that is if you take into account you would need one for every caliber), take mounds of paperwork to get, are registered with the Feds, and taxed to hell.

Yes, friends, I'm talking about a firearms muffler. Exactly like you find on any engine. A firearms muffler... aka suppressor... aka (incorrectly) silencer.

Hmmmmm there is another angle. A class action suit against the Government by shooters who have hearing loss. Due to the GCA of 34 the Govt has caused hearing loss by restricting the sale (through high tax rate, and closing down free enterprise (companies that make them)) of firearm mufflers!!



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Schmit, GySgt, USMC(Ret)
NRA Life, Lodge 1201-UOSSS
"Si vis Pacem Para Bellum"
 
I just recently had my bi-annual work physical, sight, hearing, coordination, pulmonary, the whole shebang. After all was said and done, the Dr. came in and was flipping through my charts. "You're a shooter, eh?" "Huh?" "Yeah, I can tell here, see the auditory drop in the 6 and 8K range denoted by the raised detection threshold...", or something to that effect. Basically, hearing loss in the higher frequency ranges. The telling remark was when he asked how long I might have had this, and I replied that I didn't know, I never really noticed the loss. He told me it was normal that I might not have noticed, as the frequency was rather high, but then he said, "Let me guess, when you were younger, you probably went out a few times just to bust some caps, didn't wear plugs or muffs, and never thought about it, right?" Me, looking sheepish, "Uh, yeah, you're probably right." Then he tossed his hearing aid on the desk and said, "Hey, we all did it from time to time when we were young, before we got smarter." Hey, this guy was alright after all. Seems he has a fondness for Weatherby's, Ruger shotguns and singles, sporting clays, and pheasant. Neat guy. We talked about firearms and hunting for a bit, he asked me if I was doubling up plugs and muffs for anything over rimfires (yes, I have been for a while now), wished me well and continued good health.

Bottom line, you may not even know you are experiencing hearing losses until tested, and by then, many times the damage is already done. Let's be careful, gang.

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Don LeHue

The pen is mightier than the sword...outside of arms reach. Modify radius accordingly for rifle.
 
i bought a set of peltor tac 6's for $118 from CDNN last month

they clip loud sounds and amplify quiet sounds

they seem pretty nice
kinda fun to listen to music while hammering nails
crank'em up and listen like your dog does.
man are your feet loud in dry grass

dZ
 
DonL,
In your post, I got the impression your check up was company manditory.
I worked 35 years for an industrial bakery.
You wouldn't think there would be a noise problem in a bakery but, when I left, all production employees were required to wear ear muffs, hard hats, hair nets,and goggles, safety shoes and long sleeved shirts in
certain areas. Plus, pockets were not alowed on any shirt. Work area temperatures ran between 100 and 120 degrees.
I'm sure OSHA had a lot to do with all the
"safety equipment and dress codes", but I remember having "company mandated" hearing tests. Well, all of us that failed the test were brought before a pannel of oral examiners. Now, I didn't realize it then but, all they wanted was to find out if we were shooters or if we were exposed to bombs, howitzers or sustained small arms fire in the military. Naturaly I failed the oral test too. Come to find out through the grapevine that the company was logging information on potential law suits for employee hearing loss.
How well I remember using cigarette filters for ear plugs during firing missions on 8in. howitzers. ;)

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Ralph in In.
 
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