Hearing Loss – A cautionary tale.

[325WSM]

Hearing Loss – A cautionary tale.

 

You have probably noticed that I have not been 'on' this forum or posted for quite a while and if I have missed a request or PM from anyone I apologise but recent circumstances have virtually precluded the use of my PC.

 

In December I was fine and out shooting at least 3-4 times per week, for anything and everything over the 20,000 odd acres I have permission on locally but that all changed in the New Year.

 

Mid January I had an ear infection, nothing serious, but one that needed antibiotics to clear it up. However, by the time my week's course had finished I had started with Tinnitus – a ringing sound inside my head along with high blood pressure and constant headaches.

 

Without going into too much detail suffice it to say the noise gradually became so loud I was near to being suicidal. The doctor was great and helped me organise immediate visits to various Consultants and clinics as well as arranging all sorts of tests, x-rays and scans only for me to find out that I don't have a brain tumour, or a kidney tumour or any of the dozen or so other things that might just be causing the noise. It is, in their words, 'Tinnitus, and I need to go away and learn to live with it as there is no cure'.

 

The reason was not the ear infection –that was just the catalyst - but my loss of hearing that has happened over the years from shooting without proper protection.

 

I didn't realise at the time but without exception my own lack of concern for what I believed was a minor hearing loss was the opportunity for tinnitus to begin. The hearing tests have actually shown quite a significant hearing loss especially in the ear opposite to my shooting side and that is the underlying cause.

 

For me the noise levels initially built up to very loud levels at a frequency of around 5800 MHz. For instance I could still hear it despite standing next to a very loud vacuum cleaner or over the noise of my vehicle on the motorway when driving on those horrid serrated concrete stretches – it was loud and was there 100% of the time. I was unable to sleep, to watch TV or even use the PC. In fact the PC and mobile / cordless phones still increase the noise inside my head sufficiently to make their use unacceptable most of the time. Over the last 3 months things have settled down a little to a loudness level of about 75% and the noise has changed frequency to around 8000 MHz and I also do seem to have perhaps 1 day in 3 or 4 when I find the noise is down to about 25% level. Better – yes ! but it is still making any semblance of normality impossible and I have only been out with a rifle 4 or 5 times since Xmas.

 

As an indication of the noise level and type of noise try listening to different frequencies on this site:-

 

http://www.tinnitool.com/en/tinnitus_analyse/hoertest.php

 

Turn up your PC Volume top full and turn the site volume to about ½ way and that approximates to the noise levels inside my head for most of the time.

 

I am in no way looking for sympathy as the reason for my predicament is all of my own making. The point of posting this thread is simply as a warning to others about something most of us just don't appreciate could be happening to our hearing because it is so gradual and mostly unnoticed. Tinnitus, I understand, can and does hit those with hearing loss as would be expected from long term shooting without protection and I mean constant protection. I am not a Target shooter and therefore rarely shoot more than a handful of rounds at a time at any one time and usually it is single shots. In the field I have never worn protection because I could neither hear what was going on around me nor comfortably shoot with a headset on. I was also unwilling to spend £500 on a set of the digital ear inserts.

 

I know most of you are the same as me and because of that fact alone I am telling you to start taking care of your ears. The hearing loss you may get from shooting is something you can easily live with – in fact it can be an advantage when the wife says it is time to wash up – but the onset of Tinnitus could be equally as devastating to you as it has been for me especially when you are told there is no cure.

 

Postscript.

In the near future, I was intending to reduce the time I spend shooting so that my wife and I have the time to travel a little and spend more time together in our retirement. I had started preparing a small 'For Sale' list of shooting related items that I considered to be surplus to my expected requirements in the future. However, with my unexpectedly changed health circumstances it seems as if there will be even less shooting in the future than I originally envisaged and on that basis I have prepared a considerably larger list of 20+ pages of shooting, shooting related and 'other' things that it would be sensible to advertise given my present circumstances.

As I explained above I will not always be able to use the PC on a regular basis so do not be perturbed if your mail is unanswered for a day or so. Whatever the delays please rest assured that all offers or shows of interest will be dealt with in a chronological order according to the date and time of the email received.

 

Since there may also be occasions when my wife will have to be dealing with enquiries please do not use PMs or reply on this thread as your reply may well not be seen. Please always write direct to mry716@hotmail.com

Anyone interested please email for a copy of the list.

 

Thanks

 

M

[silentsoulsleave308holes]

sorry what did you say?????????? sorry just couldnt resist

 

me in my own stupidity have shot rifle's in the last ten years without wearing ear protection for most of the time as I found ear plugs to cause pain and muffs to be too bulky

 

one day shooting the 300 I suddenly felt very sick and dizzy and felt a deep gurgle kind of sound out of my left ear and was pretty sick and deaf for a couple of weeks before it eventualy subsided to leave me with a constant high pitch squeel which I have had now for about six months

 

I have always worked in a noisy enviroment and have allways heard this sqeeling like a constant high pitch pain in the ass but it suddenly got worse

 

I have allways slept well with the noisy computer running, the radio or tv on, the dehumidifier running etc etc sometimes all at the same time as it drowns out the high pitch squeel/ringing

 

not fun for the mrs I can tell you but if she turns it all off I just cant relax and sleep

 

as far as I know the ringing is only in my left ear and I shoot right handed most of the time, it may be in both ears but its the left ear that causes the trouble

 

about a week ago myself and varmartin were out shooting and he started first, noticing that the bang was loud and that recently I had been wearing these really soft jelly plugs like I should have done from the start, I pushed the first plug in my right ear, pushed it in nice and tight to drown out all the noise, then before I had time to push the left ear plug in varmartin fired again and all I heared was a dull thud noise from his gun

 

oh that which promotes growth and vigour I shouted to him, explaining what I had just experienced and realising that my left ear with no plug was about as deaf as my right ear is with a plug pushed right in

 

how stupid I have been

 

that said, its a bit like if somebody said that all the food we eat causes cancer or other illness, what the ###### would we eat

 

what I am trying to say is how many of us have bought say gloves, trousers, socks etc etc and found that they dont fit us right coz its as if they were designed for a ####### action man type guy, you know the kind that they use as models or to promote after shave or underwear.......... ah hello most of us aint built like dolph ####### lungren

 

I am sure that they modeled these so called perfect man mother spiral staircaseers ears and thats why they havent fitted us right until recent years when after years of telling us to wear these metal micky head look alike bulky ####### muffs and plugs, still realising that people are still going deaf and in the quest to find why????? they found that NORMAL people found these .........ing uncomfortable and so didnt wear them so they finally did something about it

 

now a days things have come along way and there are much better things on the market but I still remember stuffing these hard rubber things in my ears that made me feel like they are stretching my head apart just to please mr health and safety walking around the workshop on a visit

 

that which promotes growth and vigour I have seen a health and safety guy wearing the foam plugs that you roll in to a thin line, stuff in your ear and wait a few minutes for them to expand to your shape, at least thats how they are supposed to be worn but this silly fecker had only popped them into the outide of his ear and they were even side ways instead of longways

 

 

anyways anuff of da bitchin, you guys that dont, you should or you will regret it

 

if you dont like em go on a quest to find the softest jelly type ones you can (about as soft as a bar of jelly before melting it) these are really really comfy and you wont know you are wearing them

[Alycidon]

I have not suffered from Tinnatus but had my first hearing aid fitted a few weeks ago. 45% down in the left ear (shoot from the right shoulder so that is the cause) and 25% down in the right.

 

The thing is I used a 12 bore without hearing protection for about 5 years, maybe 500 shots a year max. Since then hearing protection every time but to late. I can now hear things I have not for many years such as gravel underfoot and leaves but in a crowded room it is not that much better and I still struggle to understand what people are saying in noisy circumstances.

 

Please wear protecton every time especailly with unmoderated full bore rifles, they are far louder than a 12 bore.

 

A

[nell]

I most certainly can sympathise on this one, attending very many loud concerts in my youth, add to this a very loud work enviorment a unmoderated >22/250 and you have a perfect recipe for tinatus. I started to wear hearing protection many years ago, it took a long time but has helped, as i go for long priods without the ringing in my right ear, but doesnt take much to set it off again. When im in conpletly silent enviorment and that dreaded tuning fork sounds

Nell

[eldon]

Wise words above and I am unfortunately another silly ####er who should have used protection more often.

 

I am in much the same vein as Alycidon. The girl who did the tests knew her stuff. She started asking me about the army and such as apparently my loss is typical of gunfire related loss. Right handed shooters lose more in their left ear as the right ear is shielded to a degree.

I know what you mean about the noisy background conversation difficulties. It is surprising how much you read the mouth and find it difficult when somebody turns away or covers the mouth up.

Reminds me once when I took a deaf girl caving, she had to lip read so I had to turn my light off and she had to shine hers in my face(?). I couldn't see bugger all after a bit, talk about knackering your night vision.

 

 

If only the police had refused my moderator application at least I would have had some money out of it for a new rifle :)

[Redfox]

I am right in there as well, I used ear muffs later on when I started shooting clays and had got in soon enough. But was out dog training about 12-14 yrs ago with an old and close friend ( sadly passed on now) and as he was substantially deaf ( which makes you a bit oblivious to whats happening around you) he fired a blank in his dummy launcher ( no dummy) right next to me before I could get my fingers in ears. He also insisted on using humane killer blanks as he got them free, which are considerably louder than ordinary ones. I felt considerable pain in my right ear ( launcher side) immediately and we had a strong conversation about it .

But the damage was done, I have considerable hearing loss in the right ear and severe tinnitus, which is worse in some circumstances and better in others. I still wear hearing protection and a few years back bought specialised and tailored to my ears hearing devices designed for shooting which turn off in milliseconds and are great for stalking as I can hear any noisy feet etc and they fit neatly into my ear.

So I agree entirely, spend money now and dont neglect your hearing, it is a much poorer world with partial or complete hearing loss and you will not like it, there is no question it will happen, its just how soon.

PS WSM I am sure when frequencies are mentioned in your post that you mean Khz not Mhz, the range of human hearing is from about 30 hertz to 20 Khertz ( thousand hertz) we can not hear into Mega hertz which is radio frequency.

I am very sorry to hear your current circumstances, as I am not far behind.

Regards Redfox

[Vermincinerator]

I have used hearing protection right from the beginning.

Starting with fullbore Pistols and revolvers hearing protection was mandatory as the potential to damage your hearing with a revolver is much higher then with a rifle.

I use it as a second nature now even when i am out in the field, however i have slight hearing loss from 25years of industrial noise.

 

Ian.

[Ratwhiskers]

My tale is very much like Silent put it. I was out after a buck that had been reported as being "sick" by my land owner, and found him in some tight woodland. I stalked in to take the shot, lined him up and "BANG" got a head full of reflecked noise off a tree trunk right next to the muzzle on my left hand side of my head. It was like having an electrical switch flicked off and all went dead in my left tab'ole. About an hour latter I too went sick and got a screamin' headache for the rest of the day, that was it...... Damage Done!!

Most of the time I can live with it, but at others it's like someone's trying to shove a finger right through my head and it really hurts.

If hindsight was 20x20 we'd all be bored shitless or perfect, but at least we'd be able to hear what the wife and our mates were saying.

 

A very cautionary tale indead......

[silentsoulsleave308holes]

would a moderator please turn off that ####### alarm bell on the forum

[Alycidon]

Thanks M for drawing our attention to this very important issue. It is indeed life changing and needs to be experianced before it can be fully appreaciated. To not be able to hear conversation over a dinner table or a pub or resteraunt is tragic, I know people think i am either a lazy listener or cannot be bothered to join in a converstion. The fact that I cannot hear exactly what is being said other than an odd word is not apparant to most people.

 

I and so sorry that this has happened to you and hope that you are able to make enough of a recovery that will leave you a decent quality of life. Please try and keep in touch if you can.

 

A

[Finman]

I'm partially deaf from the right ear, mainly through a series of infections when I was a kid but also from shooting 12bores with my brother later on in life(and since I am left handed, it was the right ear that got the hammering), when I was 19-23. Hearing protection is unheard of in Greece, and I never have seen anyone use it. Things may have changed now i guess.

 

I fully sympathise with the sentiment of not being able to participate in conversations, particularly when there is ambient noise. I too have been mistaken as aloof, when in reality I cannot hear the conversation and 'switch off'... Thankfully I don't have tinnitus, and I do hope that I shall not get to experience the symptoms fellow forum members report.

 

In one of my recent stalking trips I got the chance to try out the Peltor ComTac electronic hearing protection muffs. I was impressed. I was able to hear every sound and conversation with the stalker, and when I came to take a shot, I got a very muffled 'thud' to my ears, much like a moderated .22LR. Needles to say, they do reside in my stalking sack ever since. I know they are dear in the UK (£250??? or therabouts), but hearing (sorry, no pun intended) what others suffer, I think it is a very low price indeed...

 

best wishes,

 

Finman

[Chris-NZ]

....

I fully sympathise with the sentiment of not being able to participate in conversations, particularly when there is ambient noise. I too have been mistaken as aloof, when in reality I cannot hear the conversation and 'switch off'... ...

 

Finman

 

 

Yes, struggling to understand speech in background noise is the most common first symptom of hearing damage from noise. The vast majority of such losses also have tinnitus associated with them.

 

You may care to read a small article I wrote for a US site:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/hearing_protection_shooters.htm

 

Chris P, NZ

[325WSM]

Thanks to all for your replies - they are appreciated.

 

I just hope that by describing my misfortune in public a few others will not fall into the same trap of negligence as I did.

 

My significant hearing loss that I have contended with for quite a few years due to unprotected shooting was and is inconvenient - but no more - whereas for me Tinnitus is devastating and life changing and is something I just could never have imagined before mid January and as much as I and others describe their experiences they will never really let you know just how damming an infliction it really is, especially when simple hearing protection could easily have avoided it.