Shooting induced hearing loss

We got digital hearing aids for the wife from costco for 2000 for the set. They work fine and are behind the ear with a clear ear tube.

 

Tinnitus is no joke and it creeps up on you. I operated heavy equipment and drove trucks for a long time. It's at the point where I have a high pitched hiss in my ears all the time now. It's hard for a 20 something to admit they can get permenant damage from circular saws , chain saws or even loude exhause pipesbut it does happen. There's more than a few personal electronic devices loud enough to damage hearing too.

Be smart enough to learn from other people's mistakes and use earplugs.

 

Same here (no pun intended). At close to 60 I've lived with a high pitched ring, and sometimes a low rumble, for years. Between aircraft riveting, aircraft engines, air tools and later, heavy mining equipment, it's all taken its toll.

Shooting was always accompanied by hearing protection, even with those little .22s. They may be small, but that supersonic "crack" wreaks havoc on high frequency hearing. Pistols in that caliber are quite sharp unless equipped with a suppressor and subsonic ammo.

The other situations involved work and hearing protection was impractical when you're expected to also respond to two way radio calls. Recently the electronic noise cancelling muffs have become available and affordable. Those would've worked nicely in that situation.

 

Just yesterday I cought my 15 yr old lil'monkey listening to who-knows-what and I could hear it (faintly) across the room so he just got "the talk" about hearing loss. Some of these I-pod thingies can crank up the volume to unbelieveable levels.

I hate to spoil his fun but I don't want the kid to be deaf by the time he's thirty.

Oh wait, I'm a Dad, it's my job to spoil his fun...

 

LOL, just think of tinnitus as free music. Having a symphony along with you can be a gift. Also having a hearing loss can be a blessing--I can tune out that which I do not care to hear---ie. my wife's "comments". Used to be able to hear mosquitoes making love at 200 yds but time changes things--lol.

 

Hmm. Sounds interesting unless you were the intended target of those energetic materials.

 

Mine is in the right ear, which makes it nice driving down the road. Until I get a back hand and she say's "YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME" how did she know?

 

Yeah my wife tells me that I have "selective" hearing loss. But often one word sounds like another and the word that was unconciously filled in is completely irrelevant or out of context. So the whole sentence makes no sense. Then I have to ask her to repeat.

 

wait.. I've had ringing in my ears since I was a kid.. I always thought it was normal. No joke fella's.. you guys just skeered me. I think I'll be going to the doc's..

 

The cheapo hearing aids are just amplifiers. The newer models are computer programable to your specific needs and are my plan as soon as I need them. My Dad has severe loss and the extra money for new ones was worth it according to him. The s.o. needs them so bad, at times he has the tv so loud it is painful for me. I do NOT know why he resists getting them. I sometimes wear ear plugs when we watch tv together. (hint, hint)

 

I have the old type that amplify everything. They are nice if there is no background noise, except they are uncomfortable to wear for any length of time. MIL live with us. She had the kind I have, but wore 'em out or the dog eat them, something, anyway she got the new kind, like you described, and loves them.

I go this week to get my hearing retested and probably will be getting those new style aids. I have high frequency loss and constant ringing, (tinnitus). Not sure how much I would wear new hearing aids, but probably would for watching TV. I just don't watch very much TV. Supposedly, the aids can also filter out some of the background noise.

Got news for my SO, if she thinks new aids would make it so I could hear her, she's dreaming. It is called, "Selective hearing loss!"

 

Strangest thing when I had an annual hearing check a couple months ago. My test results were BETTER than when I entered the Army almost 15 years ago. Since then, I was on M1A1 tanks for eight years (120mm cannon, among other loud toys), rode for hours in loud trucks, been in two IED attacks, and fired many 5.56 and 9mm rounds sans earplugs. I do get ringing now and then, though. I should probably get that on paper for when I retire.

 

I have new hearing aids... they work well when you are alone but the back ground noise drives me crazy...

 

I have tinnitus, left side.
The docs tell me it is due to an untreated ear infection some years ago.
It has developed into Menier's disease which brings vertigo and hearing loss with it.
I always have anti vertigo meds with me, the tinnitus comes and goes, it got to the point I though it would drive me crazy...
then I read a book about tinnitus and met a Doc who said it was a physiological response ( meaning it's all in your head)
sounds real enough to me.

My hearing is gone on my left side, and I was zealous about always having ear plugs on while on the job site with tools around

I am looking at hearing aids too, hoping my insurance pays a bit and saving my pennies for the day when it is mandatory

I have been told a few things by different audiologists...it's worth going to the doc to find out whats going on