Regarding hearing damage and Colt Python

V

vuperior

Inactive
I hope this is the appropriate forum.

Had a similar experience as Dragline45. Shot my beloved Colt Python without ear protection [1 shot *outdoors* at one of my mines] and it damaged my hearing. Ringing for 1.5wks now. I have shot 10,000 rounds of various weapons over the years, ALWAYS wearing ear protection. ENT tests showed perfect hearing on all frequencies but with a 25db hearing loss only at the highest frequency. Been taking B-vitamins etc, white noise etc. Next visit a few days ago recovered 5db of hearing which is a good sign. Just thought I would ask for some words of encouragement as I recover. The ringing is very challenging to deal with and am wondering if anyone here has improved significantly from this over the course of weeks, months etc. I would characterize my historical hearing as very good with relatively few acoustic trauma events.

Believe me I understand the importance of ear/eye safety when shooting...I just made a careless error. Hopefully 35 years old is still young enough to possibly aid in recovery.

Once I get through this, I will be worthwhile member of the board instead of a whiner.
 
I fired lots of firearms in my youth with no, or inadequate hearing protection. Also being exposed to various ordance ranges and other high noise situations in the Army didn't help. You think a .357 Magnum is loud, you should hear a tank cannon up close, the little ear plugs they gave us back then didn't help much. They were better than nothing though.

Anyway it was a huge mistake and misfortune. Today I suffer from mild hearing loss and tinnitus(the ringing you are experincing, only it never goes away:() People, if you value your hearing always use hearing protection, the best you can afford. I'd give a lot to have my hearing back.
 
Yeah tank cannons are no joke, I was rudely awaken early one morning when mobile artillery started firing from around 20 yards outside my tent. It was the loudest thing I have ever heard in my life. I thought a mortar had hit my tent....
 
Vuperor,

I think eardrums can "heal" somewhat. I am the same age as you, and have done some pretty careless acts regarding hearing; regularly shot 12 gauges,.44 mags, ran 85+ db. machinery at my old job,used chainsaws, helped with a few massive Fourth of July fireworks displays without hearing protection. I have noticed I was paying for it. I have had some sporadic ringing, sometimes at the most inappropriate moments, like during a job interview. and occasionally point to my left ear and say "sorry?" when people speak to me. I started using ear goggles whenever I feel neccesary, and have noticed I'm not asking people to repeat themselves all the time. and the ringing is only brought on by extreme silence now, like stationary hunting in the woods, after a fresh snow, with no wind, birds, or rodents in the area.
 
I'm definitely for both eye and ear protection. For a medical problem I had years ago, I had to wear an eye patch for about a year. Life with one eye is a bit tougher, and I am fiercely protective of my vision now (both eyes work). When I was down to just the one eye I was terrified of losing it, and I wore eye protection for anything more dangerous than making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. As for the ears and the Python, that 4 inch barrel Python of mine is extremely loud. Painfully so, and far too loud to shoot without hearing protection.
 
Going on a major vitamin regimen

to try to help the recovery. I'm preparing for 3-6 months of hell and, hopefully by that time it will be bearable. Having a baby in April so I hope I can get better before then. Something tells me newborn crying is not good for my situation.

All of these posts help and if anyone has additional positive recovery information, I'm all ears.
 
If there's no permanent damage, and I wouldn't expect there to be any from what little shooting you actually did, your hearing should come slowly back. The worst measureable hearing loss I ever had was not from shooting, but was from Bruce Springsteen. I got tickets to the 3rd row in Houston for the Born in the USA tour (in the 80's?). The first workday after the concert I was in my car, which had a retro ticking clock in the dash, and I had always previously heard the clock ticking while I was sitting at stoplights. That day...no ticking. Going on memory, it was a week or so before I could hear the ticking again, but it came back. So...I guess The Boss is louder than my Python. You should be Ok eventually.
 
If you are young your hearing will probably recover to 98% or 99%. It will never be perfect again.

Me to, I was in the Army back when they did not give out hearing protection (Vietnam) and I have had a couple times when inconsiderate folks did not wait until you were ready (worst was a .44 mag @about 10 feet, behind me...that lasted 3 months and I was young then)

I now am retired, and have very poor hearing...be careful, take care of what you have. I have had one instance, about 6 months ago, one shot, 7.62X25...my ears are even worse now. Don't leave the house without ear plugs anymore...sorry Mr BG, you will have to wait until I put my ear plugs in....
 
If there's no permanent damage, and I wouldn't expect there to be any from what little shooting you actually did, your hearing should come slowly back.
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The OP states that his ears have been ringing for 1.5 weeks. It's extremely unlikely that the damage is temporary. Based on some sources, ringing of the ears is almost always indicative of permanent injury--prolonged ringing is pretty conclusive.

It doesn't take much shooting without hearing protection to cause permanent damage if the noise levels are high enough. A .357Magnum, particularly one with a barrel under 6" is VERY loud. I have noticeable and apparently permanent hearing impairment in my left ear as the result of a single shot fired some years ago from a 4" .357Mag revolver while not wearing hearing protection.

Don't kid yourself that one shot, or a "little shooting" won't hurt anything. Just one shot can cause damage that will last the rest of your life.
...if anyone has additional positive recovery information, I'm all ears.
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There have been some studies indicating that prompt therapy with steroids can reduce the amount of permanent damage. But at this point (days/weeks after the incident) I don't think there's anything you can do that will make much difference. As mentioned, you may see some small/gradual improvement over time, and you can learn to deal with the ringing, but it's probably not going to improve dramatically.
I think eardrums can "heal" somewhat.
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Eardrums can heal, but that's not what was damaged. The damage is to very delicate internal structures of the ear and, for the most part, those parts of the ear (small hairs that transmit sound energy to the nerves) don't heal much.
 
For me hearing loss is hereditary. I am 35 I have to have people repeat themselves all the time. I have to say what they said back to them and ask if that is what they said a whole lot. I am in the works of building up the funds in my HSA to pay for hearing aids. Between heredity, and all of the times of not using hearing protection while on stage it has taken its toll. I make sure to protect my hearing. At work I wear earplugs around trailer refrigeration units, and when working around anything loud. When at the range hearing protection stays on unless a cease fire is called.

Protect your hearing. If you do not you will be the person that people look at funny when you awnser with something that makes no sense at all. Due to the fact that what you heard, and what they said were two totaly differant things. Also when you have difficulty making out what they say, and they just start talking louder. Now you still cant make it out it is just louder. It gets frustrating fast when you are deaf.
 
I feel for ya,

I have a tiny bit of tinnitus and it is mostly from music. Then came the air rifle, the 22 and now handguns. I've been pretty careful with these "powder burners" but shot my air rifle without hearing protection. Indoors, some can be pretty loud so i always double up on hearing protection when shooting.

Recently there was a thread on very temporary relief for tinnitus, thought you might be interested. I've tried it and it works but mine is a pretty mild case (may or may not work for you). It's more for fun though as the effects wear off in a couple minutes. Also you may or may NOT want to do this as your inner ears are in the process of healing.

It goes like this: cover and press on your ear canals with the palms of your hands. Fingers are pointed towards the rear. This should block most of your hearing except for the rustling of your hand on your ears. Then on both hands overlap your index finger over the middle finger. Next, press down with those index fingers and let them slip off of the middle fingers, and they should *thump* the back of your head. Do this repeatedly for about 30 seconds and then stop and remove your hands.

I think the idea is that you temporarily force your ears to adjust to the new noise threshold so when it is removed the background noise is quiet in comparison (for a short while). I'm hoping that "skull thumps" aren't nearly as damaging to the hearing as unprotected gun shots. Otherwise that would defeat the purpose!
 
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Having a baby in April so I hope I can get better before then. Something tells me newborn crying is not good for my situation.
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I'd be worried about hearing loss during child birth. It could make the problem worse.
 
Shot my beloved Colt Python without ear protection [1 shot *outdoors* at one of my mines] and it damaged my hearing.
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I accidentally did this with my 10mm. No permanent hearing, but it was beyond loud. However, I believe I already have some hearing damage from loud music and wind noise from riding a motorcycle for a long distance. Hope you recover.
 
Update

Posting an update from my incident 2.5wks ago in case anyone else needs a bit of encouragement. First and only Colt Python shot EVER without ear protection. I have put close to 4000 rounds through the gun. My initial audiogram indicated 23db hearing loss at 6000Hz and 25db hearing loss at 8000Hz, which is still in the "normal" hearing range. Otherwise, perfect hearing at all other frequencies. During a follow up visit 8 days later, I actually regained 5db of hearing on both 6000Hz and 8000Hz which is relatively rare and a very good sign. Also during that period of time I had a loud ticking sound in my right ear every 3 seconds that finally went away after 8 days. Last night was my first night to sleep past 1:44am. I still have to wear earplugs most of the time. The ringing in my ears has been reduced from the power/fury of 1000 Suns to basically a loud home smoke alarm, especially at night. ENT projects 6-12 month recovery and the ringing should reduce significantly and possibly reduce to the point where it doesn't bother me. Prayer is powerful.

I am taking 30 supplements per day and eating very healthy. I finally feel like I am taking positive steps to recovery, but probably have a long way to go.

The US should develop a permanent ear protection implant for our troops. They are the ones I feel bad for.
 
I remember at the range once with my Fiancé. I was loading up my AK pistol when a couple got there. They were obviously very new to guns but the man noticed what I had. Before they even got to a bench he told her to put her muffs on. She asked him why and he said thar thing is gonna be loud. And he's right, it makes plenty of noise. It's the loudest gun I've ever fired. It makes a .44 mag sound quiet. With muffs, it sounds almost as loud as a .22 without muffs. I was really gonna wait for them to get ready though. I'm not that mean. I have tinnitus and I know it sucks. Mine isnt bad but when there's silence, all I hear is ringing. I grew up not being in a house with AC, so we always had a fan running. Well as it turns out, no matter how cold it is, I have to have a fan running just so I can sleep. If not I hear ringing and have a hard time sleeping. I don't know why I have it, might be because I had a few blown ear drums when I was a kid. Regardless it sucks, and hopefully you recover.
 
Over 3wks into it now. This past weekend seemed to be the first time that every syllable I spoke or heard was not accompanied by a loud ringing sounding like the old bicycle handlebar ringer: "ring-ring". So, I think I have turned a corner there. I feel good about that. I was also able to sleep past 2:00am. That is nice. All the ear pressure has subsided, but there is a "hollow echo" when I, for example, step on a pile of leaves etc. Maybe this will be permanent. Hope not, but hey you win some, you lose some. The tinnitus has slightly improved finally and there is only periodic clicking noises. It is still very significant, but seriously, it was completely unbearable for the past 2.5 weeks. Seems to be improving with each day now although it may be a 2-step forward, one-step backward kind of thing. It is also changing tones once or twice per day, which I read is a good thing. I will probably have the tinnitus for weeks or even months, [or hell maybe forever] but if it continues to reduce in volume etc, I don't think it will be a problem. My follow up ENT visit is Friday and I hope to regain a few decibels at 6000Hz and 8000Hz even though that was the only frequency damage and it was only 20db damage, which is considered well within "normal" range. Maybe I will just click the button every other second whether I hear a noise or not at the higher frequencies! The remainder of my hearing test was perfect. Otherwise, I have to look at this as being one of the lucky ones although I am not out of the woods yet. I talked to a guy in my office building who was trapped in a coal mine and had to be dynamited out. The TNT acoustic concussion trauma immediately/permanently eliminated 80% of his hearing.

It is strange for me to look at my duffel bag full of ear protection that I always wear except for that one shot. Anyway, I will be using plugs and muffs at the same time to even shoot a BB gun in the future.

I will keep giving periodic updates in an effort to provide a hopefully positive outlook for others going through this.
 
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