I made a stupid mistake.....

[dtb93]

and shot my .45 today without hearing protection, putting about 100 rounds through it. I was outside and its been about 4-5 hours and the ringing is still pretty bad but i can hear a little better. any suggestions on what I should do? and does anyone know if this would be permanent or not?

 

[shooterfpga]

theres nothing you can do that im aware of, you are just more sensitive than others. no, it is not permanent, but seeing how you react to not using protection, dont do it again or you will have tinnitus issues.

 

[M. Sage]

The ringing might not be. But it might be.

You'll have permanent damage to your hearing, though. And you're no more sensitive than anybody else. That sound is permanent damage.

 

[shooterfpga]

i beg to differ, ive shot and shoot a lot with no protection. it bothers me, none to slight ringing. now, the the physical damage may or may not be there, but according to all my hearing tests my hearing is absolutely perfect and i can hear everything except for the last test which supposedly no human can hear that frequency anyways.

edit: full discloser, it is not perfect, it is within normal, acceptable range and timing. my deployment status is color green my medical status is color green.

 

[kabob]

It'll go away but it might take a few days. I went to an indoor range the other day and like an idiot was using those stupid gel noise reduction ear buds and it just so happened that a CHL class was qualifying in the lanes next to us. My ears were ringing for 3 days.

 

[Mikewood]

Welcome to the world of shooting. The ringing might go away but then again it might not. The damage you sustained is perminant. It's something you just have to live with and Even with hearing aids your ears won't be 100%. The good news? When he BS gets too
loud at work you can turn your ears down.

 

[Glockster69]

Yup, pretty stupit going to the range and burnin' only 100 rds.

Seriously, why didn't you get protection after the first shot?
I'd agree the damage is permanent, the question is how severe is the damage.

 

[Younggun]

I used to hate useing earplug/earphones, Not sure how many rounds I fired before realizing it could do major damage. Remember shooting a SBR AR that would give a few seconds of ringing and the sound slowly returned, yet I still score very well on hearing tests, or at least my last one which was taken after I got some sense. Yes, all loud noises damage your hearing, to what extent is different for everyone. My understanding(which very well could be wrong) is that you lose higher frequencies first. I'm only in my late 20's so I may see more effects for my young dumbness over the next 20 yrs but only time will tell.

I will admit to something I had intended to keep to myself. I generally wear electronic hearing protection so I can hear whats going on around me. The first day I went to fire my .50 I took a standard set because I guess I didn't quite trust the "hi tech" stuff. After a couple shots I removed my headphone, jacked around and went back for another shot. Settled behind the rifle and though "oh shit, forgot my SAFETY GLASSES". Next thing I felt like I'd been hit in the head with a very large frying pan and my ears rang the rest of the night. The next day I would get ringing from time to time but not everything is back to normal and I haven't noticed any other effects.

Hopefully yours will get back to normal, I'm sure i took a few years off mine but it's surprising what a body can deal with and moderatly recover from. Good luck.

 

[ChunkyMonkey]

Stupid was the first couple shots....beyond that....retarded.

 

[Younggun]

Stupid was the first couple shots....beyond that....retarded.

First 2 shots included ear and eye protection, after second shot they were removed while I checked target, etc.

 

[ChunkyMonkey]

First 2 shots included ear and eye protection, after second shot they were removed while I checked target, etc.

I was referring to the first post where he said he shot 100 rounds that way. Sounds like someone trying to look cool...

 

[Charlie]

Tinitus (SP?) means your ears are gonna' ring. The ring is enhanced by alcohol, caffine, and tobacco. It stimulates the ear thingys! Don't ask me how I know. (working construction, in a factory, and shooting)

 

[Younggun]

Gotcha

 

[cconn]

At a certain point the ringing will not go away. My ears have rang since I was about fifteen years old. Was too stupid to wear hearing protection back then, and no one ever warned me the damage would be permanent. I remember my ears would be ringing after a shooting session, but it would stop after a while. Then one day the ringing just did not stop. Ever. Now I always use ear protection, and rarely shoot a weapon without a silencer attached.

 

[40Arpent]

i beg to differ, ive shot and shoot a lot with no protection. it bothers me, none to slight ringing. now, the the physical damage may or may not be there, but according to all my hearing tests my hearing is absolutely perfect and i can hear everything except for the last test which supposedly no human can hear that frequency anyways.

edit: full discloser, it is not perfect, it is within normal, acceptable range and timing. my deployment status is color green my medical status is color green.

The damage is cumulative over time. Keep shooting without ear pro and before long, you'll have a different opinion. I'm speaking from personal experience. My hearing is seriously fucked, with severe tinnitus, from having had an attitude like yours about ear pro.

 

[shooterfpga]

The damage is cumulative over time. Keep shooting without ear pro and before long, you'll have a different opinion. I'm speaking from personal experience. My hearing is seriously fucked, with severe tinnitus, from having had an attitude like yours about ear pro.

ill take situational awareness over cumulative hearing loss. they issue us hearing protection, but i hate that crap. if something with a big boom is gonna go off near my head, sure ill pop em in, but for small arms fire no. a few of my buddies have tinnitus, ive been lucky and im in a combat role, they were not so much.

 

[TxDad]

How can you guys shoot without protection on your ears?? Last time I forgot to put mine on I only got one shot off from a 38. That was some pain. I forget occasionally, but the first round is a painful reminder.

 

[shooterfpga]

How can you guys shoot without protection on your ears?? Last time I forgot to put mine on I only got one shot off from a 38. That was some pain. I forget occasionally, but the first round is a painful reminder.

because your body will tell your ears to cut out that frequency to stop you from damaging it.

 

[F350-6]

The damage is cumulative over time. Keep shooting without ear pro and before long, you'll have a different opinion. I'm speaking from personal experience. My hearing is seriously fucked, with severe tinnitus, from having had an attitude like yours about ear pro.

I really wish I could argue with you here. When you're young and heal quickly, it doesn't seem too bad. 20 or 30 years later you realize your mistakes, but it's too late by then of course. Like they say, youth is wasted on the young.

 

[Glockster69]

ill take situational awareness over cumulative hearing loss.

Situational awareness decreases when you can't HEAR what's going on too.