Use It or Lose It - Hearing Protection

[warpigM-4]

I still live with ringing in my ears being around a Abrams Main gun going off with out hearing protection big mistake on my part

[Pork Chop]

Excellent advice.

I suffer from tinnitus (ringing in the ears) which is unrelated to shooting but, nonetheless, makes one appreciate good hearing and the need to protect it.

Me too and it sucks.

I've been using the surefire EP3's and electronic muffs together. Since the ringing started a couple years ago I've been MUCH more proactive in hearing protection. Wish I would've been more concerned years ago.

[SomeOtherGuy]

Two comments. First, not all ear protection is the same. I rely mostly on muffs, but I have NRR 29db muffs from Howard Leight - vs. around 20 NRR for typical muffs. Every bit helps. Some earplugs are only in the low 20's while the best foam ones are up at 33db NRR. The decibel scale is logarithmic so a 10db difference means 10 times more noise, and a 3db difference is twice as much noise. In other words, 33db NRR is twice as good as 30db NRR, and 23db is only one-tenth as good as 33db.

Second, hearing loss does not primarily come from direct physical damage, but from cell death caused by chemical changes from the noise exposure. There are studies indicating that keeping your body topped up with certain vitamins and antioxidants can largely prevent hearing loss related to short-term exposure. See:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0328111138.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0212093704.htm

I believe there was also a US Army study on the same thing but I can't find it right now. Let me emphasize, THIS IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR HEARING PROTECTION. However, for someone who's doing a lot of shooting, every bit helps, and I would include good vitamins and/or good diet in your hearing protection list, along with plugs and muffs.

[Heavy Metal]

Ever since I stepped-up my anti-oxidant vitamin consumption, my hearing loss stopped. I have an annual physical.

If you see me popping pills at a class, you now know what I am doing.

[Heavy Metal]

I still live with ringing in my ears being around a Abrams Main gun going off with out hearing protection big mistake on my part

Exact same thing happend to me. They called the range hot on the radio and did not bother to tell the range support.

[deadlyfire]

I've suffered hearing loss from my time in service (firefights, being mortared) Needless to say, I never shoot with out earpro now.
Too easy to protect it. too easy to lose it.

[TacticalSledgehammer]

I had a Russian M44 go off next to my head at a range once. I had a ringing in my ear for a solid week. Needless to say hearing in that ear is at 10% now. This is what happens when you remove your protection for a second to hear a conversation during live fire. I regret it over and over again.

[Brimstone]

This has been a big deal for me with my two boys (7 & 9) when we go shooting. No firearms are fired without eye and ear pro on. They are very good about wearing their protection now, but did give me some grief early on. I remember my 9 yr old complaining about wearing the eye pro and on the very next round the spent casing hit him in his safety glasses. I couldn't have planned it any better.

[Heavy Metal]

I had a Russian M44 go off next to my head at a range once. I had a ringing in my ear for a solid week. Needless to say hearing in that ear is at 10% now. This is what happens when you remove your protection for a second to hear a conversation during live fire. I regret it over and over again.

If you had only popped a few of the right vitamins in the following 24 hours. If I had known on that tank range in 1994 what I know today.

[VaeVictis]

I've got permanent tinnitus in my right ear from shooting my AR with only surefire plugs in. When I was out in the open they worked fine but as soon as I was shooting in any sort of enclosed area they didn't seem to work very well. I now double up on ear protection and wish I was smart enough to do so from the beginning.