doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Tinnitus

Hello All,

As of a few months I have started experiencing a high pitched "whistle" in my right ear. In recent weeks it went up a notch in intensity.

I have been diagnosed with Tinnitus and know there isn't a lot you can do about it, but I remember this has been discussed here before
and would appreciate any and all feedback on the subject.

Thanks in advance,

JC

JayCee, I've suffered with it for many years and have found little relief. Over time you will probably become less conscious of the noise. Strongly recommend protecting the ears to prevent further deterioration. Main hearing loss will be in the higher frequencies. Understanding conversations in group settings or soft women's voices will become more difficult.

I think some of the new hearing aids will help but not cure the problem. Haven't tried them.

Protect your ears from loud noises!

Hi Joe,

Curiously enough and although I shot quite a bit of .22 ammo in my childhood
and youth with no protection, once I read about Tinnitus on this Board several
years back I started wearing protection, even ear muffs and foam plugs.

Unfortunately I have been told that ear damage is cumulative so my late worry
was just that, too late. I have continued to take care so as not to worsen the
situation. Fortunately, up to now, I have only lost some hearing, as you say,
in the higher frequencies.

Have heard that some help can be obtained with noise stimulation. Would
like to know if anyone has some experience with this, and how it is done.

Thanks again,

JC

I have beeb shooting almost all of my 74 years without ear protection --- that's why I am nearly deaf now and the ringing in my ears is constant. Put on the earmuffs, lads! Chopper

Hi JC. I have the usual "carpenter pattern" deafness (loss of high frequencies, also loss of consonants, vowells, and complete syllables sometimes) from yrs. of whining circle saws, routers, etc. I count my myself fortunate that I hear "crickets" (rather pleasant) only intermittently or may be I'm only intermittently conscious of it. Would the "noise stimulation" you speak of be available from the sound generators that people use during sleep?

jack

I'm 61 and have had tinnitus since my early 20's.

I never found anything that helped so I just learned to enjoy the "music" of the ringing in my ears as the years passed.

I now wear hearing protection even when I hunt to preserve as much of my remaining hearing as I can.

[quote=Joe Wood] Understanding conversations in group settings or soft women's voices will become more difficult.

Yea, but soft women have other offsetting features, so they can often be forgiven.

About 30 years ago I shot a box of 44 magnums in a Model 29 S&W. After the second or third shots, my ears rang, somewhat more with more shots. That ringing had never "not gone away" before, but this ringing never did. So much for youthful invulnerability.

Modern hearing devices do help, and they get better everyday. When people ask about my hearing loss, I usually tell them it was from heridity and stupidity. Do wear protection.

Let me add my voice in chorus to the others, too many the drag strip foray's, screaming amps, race bikes, arc gouges, etc, etc.
Weeeeeeeee......all the time. I sleep better now, nothing wakes me 'cause I can't hear anything....even Tornado's.... . Has anyone tried the drugs that are being hawked for Tinnitus?

I find that I must wear muffs to be comfortable at the range now.
Loud noises bother me more now than when I had good hearing.

Huh? What was that? Waddu say?

For some reason there was not much emphasis on ear protection back when I was young. Maybe I was just ignorant of it. When I was 13 years old I got a Ruger Standard .22 auto for Christmas (1967). I regularly shot my .22 pistol without protection, not knowing I was doing anything harmful. Soon after that I bought a Walther P.38 and didn't know that shooting 9mm without protection would be harmful.

My first real damaging experience that I recall was a box or two of hardball ammo through a G.I. Colt .45 ACP a few years later. The ringing never went away.

Soon after that I got my first .357 Mag. I noticed shooting the .357 felt like being jabbed in the ears with knitting needles. That's when I looked into hearing protection, at about age 16. Toooooooo late!

My hearing has continued to decline. I'm now 56 with lots of tinnitus and a big hearing deficit. There are strong factors of heredity from both my mother and father, but there's a strong factor of stupidity from yours truly.

Take care of your ears, boys and girls.

Curl