Tinnitus

deeksofdoom

Has anyone ever had tinnitus, is it temporary or permanent?

I was clay shooting on Sunday, I was wear ear plugs but I had just put the ear plugs into my ears and they hadn't swelled out properly. The banging hurt my ear a bit but I didn't pay any attention to it. Then on another occasion I had just come off the stand removed my plugs and someone stepped in behind me and started firing behind me.

I didn't notice anything that night but Monday morning my right ear was really sensitive and I was a bit deaf in it, it was Monday that I noticed the ringing in my ear. I've had my ear stuffed with cotton wool all week but my hearing is back to normal now. Anyway I still have the ringing in my ear. Its not screaming in my ear and I only notice it when evrything is gone quite around me.

Has anyone had this and does it go away?

Am going clay shooting again on Sunday but I'm going to wear double hearing protection and this time I'm not taking it off until I'm back in the car going home.

Cass

My Father suffers from it and has done for years. His was not noise induced, but i stress the importance of wearing adequate protection when out for fear it would make it worse.

He has Vertigo too which is also an inner ear condition. Not sure how they are related, but he suffers a subtle and constant ringing/drone. His doctor said it's a low case in that it does not prevent him from sleeping or interfere too much with his day to day routine. However after years of having it he is resigned to the fact that he has it permanently. Sometimes it can be temporary, but only time will tell.

cookimonster

Every time you expose yourself to unsafe levels noise you are damaging your hearing. This may not be apparent at or after the fact but it will be compounded over time and eventually cause hearing loss.
Low levels of constant noise can cause damage, as can one quick exposure to loud noise.

The ringing is evidence of injury, range practice with the RDF and PDF during my early years left me with days of ringing, although I do not suffer from tinnitus I am now paying the price for no or poor quality hearing protection during the early part of my service. My hearing has steadily deteriorated over the last 3 years with each yearly medical showing more and more loss. I am only 45 and would have only shot annual range practices over 27 years, most of it wearing ear protection.
For sport shooting with the exception of rimfire and stalking I use either foam plugs for rough shooting, ear defenders for pigeon decoying and clay pigeons.

I am lucky not to suffer from tinnitus as those I know who do will tell you its a nightmare.
To those younger shooters who think there's no need or its over cautious heed the warnings, it will catch up on you.
The only positive is that I can genuinely turn a deaf ear to my other half when it suits.....

Cass

cookimonster wrote: »

To those younger shooters who think there's no need or its over cautious heed the warnings, it will catch up on you..

+1 to this.

Apparently the younger you are the more it can effect you so its vitally important that younger shooters take special care, and continue it on into adulthood.

Dian Cecht

I have it for a few years now. It's a nightmare ! I even have to have the TV on while I sleep as it's better than the constant ringing when in bed and all is quiet

I have it constant BUT shooting, grinders etc really make it worse. Too many years without hearing protection when we knew no better or you were "soft" if you had it. We were smart weren't we

If you haven't got it MIND YOUR HEARING ! before it's too late

landkeeper2

once you have it you have it it's irreversible , what happens is the tips of the tiny hairs that turn vibration to sound in your inner ear break off ,so you lose that portion of your hearing and the broken bits constantly hit off the other hairs and that's what cause the ringing in your ears , it will settle down after a few days but another loud noise and it'll be back to haunt you again and again.
i'm in the position now that my ears are fooked!!!!!!! too many big days on pigeons /clays with no hearing protection /big rifles with no mods and 30 years of being around shooting, chainsaws and suchlike have left me with a constant ringing/hissing and a complete inability to hear sounds of certain pitches ie widgeon whistling and the low gabble of mallard as they flight
if there is background noise in a pub then conversation is out for me
buy some electronic muffs and mind your ears you don't get a second chance

tac foley

I have 75% hearing loss as a result of small guns, big guns, assorted boom and bangs without any warning, fast jets, slow jets, helicopters and sundry armoured fighting vehicles.

When I began shooting at age six, my dad stuffed cotton wool in my ears to give me some protection - that was good enough, fifteen years later, to get me into the Army without any problem, but that is when I started down the slippery slope to wearing full-time ear trumpets.

Thanks to the wonders of modern [and expensive] electronics I have recovered a lot of what was previously lost, but the general trend is all downhill and will never actually improve naturally.

Look after your ears - here in UK the wearing of approved level defence for your ears is mandatory on the range.

tac

Dian Cecht

landkeeper2 wrote: »

if there is background noise in a pub then conversation is out for me

Same for me. I have to "tune in" to whoever I'm talking to at any particular time & as you say background noise or even conversation & I'm in trouble

My natural voice level is raised too so people often think I'm raising my voice/shouting at them & I'd have no idea my voice level would be higher than "normal"

Cass

tac foley wrote: »

Look after your ears - here in UK the wearing of approved level defence for your ears is mandatory on the range.

Same here with the added bit that i have seen/been on ranges that refuse to allow youngsters, with any amount of hearing protection, into fullbore areas.

deeksofdoom

Cass when you were saying your father has vertigo, I had quite a few dizzy spells today I thought it was down to the fact that I had very little sleep last night due to the ringing in my ear and the heat. I hope to **** its only temporary.

Cass

He has suffered Tinnitus for years, but recently we were topping the hedgerow around the house. I set up a make shift scaffolding and on two occasions he fell and more than two he was "disorientated" and struggled to keep his footing.

He went to the doctor at the start of the year and was diagnosed with Vertigo. It's an imbalance in the inner ear which causes him to believe he is moving or give the notion of movement when he is not. So he can be standing still on level ground and start to stumble. We were out for a few rabbits in January with a mate and my mate and i walked down a 3 foot slope. Now it was the mos gentle of slopes and a child could have made it blindfolded. However he began to wobble and before he even attempted to move he stumbled and done an inadvertent "tactical role" while keeping the gun in the air (so not to damage it).

It left him shaken and put him off shooting for a while as he would get severe bouts of it and cause nausea.

I'm not a doctor but thought it might be associated to the Tinnitus, but that;s only speculation. It could be two separate issues and he was just "lucky" enough to have/get both. It has calmed down and the Doctor told him, much like the Tinnitus, that it may go, but even if it does not it can be managed to a certain degree with medication, but to not hold out hope of a cure.


As some have pointed out above this stems from an upbringing of being around guns, machinery and in general loud, constant, noises without hearing protection. It can also come from infections but it can be hard to nail down a definitive cause. The only thing you can do is to try and prevent most causes.

Having being brought up around guns, and with my father suffering as he does i had the benefit of his condition so he insisted from an early age on hearing protection and caution. So far i'm lucky in that i don't suffer anything.

tac foley

Cass wrote: »

He has suffered Tinnitus for years, but recently we were topping the hedgerow around the house. I set up a make shift scaffolding and on two occasions he fell and more than two he was "disorientated" and struggled to keep his footing.

He went to the doctor at the start of the year and was diagnosed with Vertigo. It's an imbalance in the inner ear which causes him to believe he is moving or give the notion of movement when he is not. So he can be standing still on level ground and start to stumble. We were out for a few rabbits in January with a mate and my mate and i walked down a 3 foot slope. Now it was the mos gentle of slopes and a child could have made it blindfolded. However he began to wobble and before he even attempted to move he stumbled and done an inadvertent "tactical role" while keeping the gun in the air (so not to damage it).

It left him shaken and put him off shooting for a while as he would get severe bouts of it and cause nausea.

I'm not a doctor but thought it might be associated to the Tinnitus, but that;s only speculation. It could be two separate issues and he was just "lucky" enough to have/get both. It has calmed down and the Doctor told him, much like the Tinnitus, that it may go, but even if it does not it can be managed to a certain degree with medication, but to not hold out hope of a cure.


As some have pointed out above this stems from an upbringing of being around guns, machinery and in general loud, constant, noises without hearing protection. It can also come from infections but it can be hard to nail down a definitive cause. The only thing you can do is to try and prevent most causes.

Having being brought up around guns, and with my father suffering as he does i had the benefit of his condition so he insisted from an early age on hearing protection and caution. So far i'm lucky in that i don't suffer anything.

Souds like your father has Meniéres Disease.

tac

amadablam

Tinnitus can also be caused by whiplash type injuries to the cervical spine and some head injuries.

Nausea and vertigo can be caused by rhinitis which affects the sinus of the the ear as well as nasal sinus. I had a bout of it last year and it was was very disconcerting. Finally cleared up but feeling like you are falling after a simple but sudden head movement, is not pleasant at all.

One shot on kill

I got it a couple of years ago. I was always good enough with hearing protection. But that day I wasn't. The ringing lasted for about 2-3 weeks and went away.
Thank god.
Terrified it would come back I've never forgotten my plugs since. I've plugs in every bag I own.

transit260

Im a victim of my own stupidity,i have constant hissing in my ears,from pigeon shooting in my earlier days and industrial noise from way back.its a bugger at times and has seriously affected my hearing,not a fun condition at all