My Ears Are Ringing

[rtr]

I took one shot with my AR-15 with a muzzlebreak without my hearing protection (not on purpose, just a stupid mistake). This was about 18 hours ago and my ears are still ringing (althought not as bad as initially). I also have a bit of a headcold that perhaps is not helping.

Anyways anyone got an idea of how long the ringing will last? Is there anything I can do other than wait?

[XRe]

Worst case is probably that you've done some damage and the ringing is there permanently (although likely at a lower level eventually). More likely is that it'll fade out over a few days. You may have also lost some high frequency hearing permanently in the process. If you're not an audio engineer professionally, it's probably not something you'll notice

I have a constant reminder of the need for hearing protection - I have tinitus from playing drums (constant ringing in ears that won't go away). My case isn't real bad - I don't notice it unless it's quiet around. Luckily, I haven't lost anything in the range of human speech, etc, and I seem to be able to hear most of the audible range accurately, still, so....

[lynn jones]

the ringing will go away in a few days as XRe said. you'll probably not be able to hear your timex chime anymore. but that should be all.

i make the mistake of shooting a stage without hearing protection way back when. now i can't hear my timex and that's about all.

lynn ( i double plug now ) jones

[Airedale]

rtr,

When I was just a liitle soldier in the Infantry, we rarely wore earplugs as it wasn't manly. I doubt that I used hearing protection regularly until I'd been in four or five years.

I have the ringing 24/7. Always wear your hearing protection!

Once the damage is done, it doesn't get better. I hope yours is temporary and clears up.

Dave

[calhunter]

I did the same thing about 25 years ago with a 357 (6 Shots). It was so bad that I could hardly hear for a week. It caused me a permanent loss at two frequencies. I still have ringing in my ears to this day. I can't hear a cell phone ring if its in a certian frequency range.

One shot probably did not do permanent damage, but you might want to talk to an Ear, Nose & Throat Doctor, just in case. Try to avoid as much noise as possible, the less stress on the ear the better.

About 8 months ago one of my friends had his glasses cracked by a shotgun pellet while shooting skeet. As near as we can figure he was shooting station 7 and the pellet was spun and thrown back by the underside of the clay bird. If it wasn't for the glasses he would have been blinded.

I wear Digital hearing protection (Sport Ear) and they, and the glasses go on in the parking lot.

[Jasonub]

A marine sniper here in the phils told me a story. It was when we got the barret 50 sniper rifles a few years back. They were eating on the field when he spotted a group of tangos. he immediately got the 50 and aimed at one of the tangoes and let of a shot.

he forgot to wear the muffs or plugs since he was too excited. he could not hear for 3 days and the ringing stopped after a week.

if your wondering if he hit the bad guy, lets just say its impossible for him to miss

[AikiDale]

The worst part for me is loss of frequency in Data's phone. There is an episode of STTNG where there is a phone ringing and the phone is located in Data. The episode was making absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Total non-sequitor. Fortunately I was not watching alone and when I asked "is it just me or does this not make any sense at all?" my girlfriend said something about the phone ringing. I said 'What phone?"

As far as the constant ringing in my ears, I thought that was all the voices talking at once....

[norbs007]

Just had my experience last Sunday. Shot a stage without plugs and I still have the constant ringing after three days. Its pretty bad when inside a noisy place, but my two little girls' tantrums sounds the same .

[GRD]

I have permanent ringing and some hearing loss from my former life as an audio engineer. You get used to it. At first you don't think you ever will, which is really not a fun time, then eventually you only notice it when it's quiet, then after a few more years you only notice it when you try to notice it. Your brain just stops paying attention to it.

Not saying that you're going to have this permanently, RTR. It might go away as late as a few weeks from now.

- Gabe

[Nemo]

WHAT?!

[rtr]

Ringing is still there, but getting better, hasn't really bothered me too much.

[XRe]

While we're sort of on the subject... For those of you who like live music, but are worried about developing the permanently ringing ear... Westone makes "musicians earplugs" that you can have fit by an audiologist. The doc sends ear impressions to Westone, and then they get the plugs back in. They have a flat frequency response - so music sounds normal (unlike the foam plugs), you can sing with them in and not hear just yourself (unlike foam plugs), and they provide adequate protection for those situations. You can get 9db, 16db, or 29db cut filters (which are interchangeable) for them - I have the 16s for music. The 29s don't have a perfectly flat response...

The downside - they're about $150 total, with the fitting, etc. However - they work as advertised. These things are *great*. Everything sounds perfect, just quieter. I walk out of concerts or band practice now without an intense ringing in my ears... Super cool....