Hearing Protection - An often overlooked safety concern

Since I first posted in this thread years ago the VA examined me and although they said I had not proven the hearing loss was from the Navy service they did agree that the Tinnitus was and they send me a disability check every month. Not much and if I could get my hearing back without the constant ringing I'd sedn them a check every month.

IT SUX.

I wear hearing protection at concerts, mowing, hand grinding, anything that make a lot of noise, shooting and in the trucks (Deuce).

Loud noises also hurt while scaring the crap out of me. Not because of fear it just makes me jump. Funny...NOT.

The impact of loud noises on the tiny hairs inside the ear are like walking on a field of grass. An occasional walk across the grass will flatten the the blades of grass but the grass will soon recover and stand back up again. Continued walks across the grass, though, will flatten and trample the blades of grass to where they will not stand back up. In a sense, that is what happens when the tiny hairs in our ears are exposed to loud and repeated noises; the hairs will flatten and be permanently damaged by the noise and they will not stand back up. Every time I see a path across a field, I am reminded of the damage noise has done to my hearing.

Although I will never get my hearing back, nor get rid of the constant sound of cicadas I hear every moment I'm awake, I wear, at a minimum, foam ear plugs with a rating of NRR33 when I am exposed to loud (>85dB) and/or constant noises. I even wear ear plugs during song service at church when the band is playing. For louder noises, such as mowing, pressure washing, chain saws, shooting, driving MIL trucks, flying on MIL airplanes, etc, I augment the foam plugs by also wearing external ear protection earmuffs/headsets. The combination of the two can greatly reduce the impact/damage noise has on the tiny hairs in your ears.

WR

donalloy1 said:

When you live this way for six years. Not much helps. Bushmaster and 6v53t all day long. Ears ring like crazy! Working with VA Audio people now. Hope they can help me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnq-0NCtaI0

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Thanks for posting this video.

I wonder if the tapered foam plugs would have helped somewhat?

Hope help with your hearing is on your horizon.

I am hoping the M35A3 I have has gone a long way in the direction of noise abatement. It seems to be a very quiet truck and I don't rev it high as well. After reading this thread it seems that foam ear plugs will be a greater part of my fashionable wardrobe when driving and shooting and perhaps even lawn mowing!!

I wear foam ear plugs even at the movies! And during anything that makes more than the usual household noise. While they are fairly quiet, I wear ear plugs while driving the M1009's and 931's, because the wind noise of the open windows bugs me.

For shooting, mowing, running the grinder, driving the Deuce or M813, etc., I have a headset that goes on my head.

As said above, its not just to prevent further damage, its also because loud noises become physically painful after the damage has occurred.

When I first got out of the service and took my physical to work for the city of Austin, I actually failed my hearing test. The Doc came in and asked if I was former military, and what I had done. I told him yes, Infantry and helicopters.
He talked to me a bit, said something about tinnitus, and said the nurse had not explained the test properly (though I thought she had). He said there would be a tone, at which point he raised his finger off the desk, and that it would go away, at which point he slowly lowered his finger. He repeated this several times, finger up and down, and I was saying to myself "Okay, I got this the first time!!".

Then the test started, and I noticed as the tones began, he would raise his finger slightly for each one. Then he raised his finger while I heard nothing, but the bulb in my head came on and I mashed the button down! He smiled, and through the entire test, if his finger went up and I didn't hear anything, I held that button down til it hit the desk.
He passed me on the test, and saved my career. I never had any work related problems because of hearing, since it is just some frequencies, but it has gotten worse of late.

Cheers

trukhead said:

Thanks for posting this video.

I wonder if the tapered foam plugs would have helped somewhat?

Hope help with your hearing is on your horizon.

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I did use issued plugs when I could. And they worked very well. Mostly at Range as in video. Not very practical otherwise. In combat situations it's hard to function with them in! Needed to hear what was going on. Thinking back...I am sure I could have used them more often. My bust!

Really feel sorry for my fellow warriors that lived with the big guns. Absolutely deafening! Worked very closely with Tankers and Cannon Cockers. Pain is excruciating! 7.62 sounded like Popcorn machine after shooting Main Guns all day.

I surrounded myself with highly skilled and motivated individuals. We were and always will be about taking it to our enemies. Would do it all over again. In a heartbeat! Would take much better care of my Ears though. Semper Fi! DMLII sends respectfully

P.S. VA is working very hard to help me! I am very pleased with what they are doing.

trukhead said:

Thanks for posting this video.

I wonder if the tapered foam plugs would have helped somewhat?

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Anything will help. Every dB of reduction is less hearing loss.

When I say anything will help, I mean anything is better than nothing. Don't say, "Oh, this isn't good enough, so I won't bother doing it." Do something. Anything.

Anything will help.

That said,

Requital said:

I wear, at a minimum, foam ear plugs with a rating of NRR33 when I am exposed to loud (>85dB) and/or constant noises. I even wear ear plugs during song service at church when the band is playing. For louder noises, such as mowing, pressure washing, chain saws, shooting, driving MIL trucks, flying on MIL airplanes, etc, I augment the foam plugs by also wearing external ear protection earmuffs/headsets. The combination of the two can greatly reduce the impact/damage noise has on the tiny hairs in your ears.

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Any kind of plug is better than no plug, but no kind of plug will do 100% of the job. A lot of sound is transmitted through your mastoid bone, right behind your ear, and the only thing that will help with that is a good set of ear muffs.


Ring! ring! What's that? ..... oh. Just my ears ringing. It's always there, and I have to ask my children to repeat a lot of things.

Thank you, power tools. Thank you, loud music. Thank you, shooting sports. Thank you, LAW fired with no protection.Thank you, "Ear protection is for sissies." attitude. You have all collected your tax from me.

And you will continue to do so.

When I bumped this 5 year old thread I didn't expect the responses from all the hearing impaired. Glad you guys are posting your situations. Thank you.

So listen up newbies.

WEAR YOU HEARING PROTECTION!!!!

I live with ringing ears to.

I now use ear muffs when doing anything noisy in the shop, especially grinding.

I prefer the military style earplugs to the foam ones.

We use a set of aircraft headphones with a portable intercom.

When I drive solo I wear a simple pair 3M earmuffs.

Warthog said:

When I bumped this 5 year old thread I didn't expect the responses from all the hearing impaired. Glad you guys are posting your situations. Thank you.

So listen up newbies.

WEAR YOU HEARING PROTECTION!!!!

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You bumped a 5 year old thread that has an invalid link on the first post. I was really interested to see that link too! LOL

July 13th, 2015.


If your deuce doesn't already have one...the yellow sticker on the dashboard reading: "High Intensity Noise- Hearing Protection Required", would probably tip your passengers off that tablet hearing aids do not qualify as hearing protection while truck is running would be a good idea to add to your list of "To Do" items this week!

I have Tinnitus ( ringing in the ears) for over 6 years now ( military related) and I got it doing a temporary job as a photographer. Our usual unit photographer was not avaliable so I volunteered since I studied photography in school. We were over in France with the French army doing check point proceedures. I was in the middle of enemy and friendly forces clicking away with the camera. Anyways to make a long story short, one side let a few shots loose, the other side retaliated, and all **** breaks loose. I am stuck in the middle with a camera dangling around my neck, with both hands over my ears, but too late. The damage is done and I have a constant ringing in my ears to remind me of that mistake. Lesson of the story, even if it only a temporary job, be prepared for loud, sudden noises.

Thankfully my hearing is fine apart from a very rare occurrence. I am in the national guard and go to the range and other noisy stuff regularly. I hated the cheap foam earplugs and have refused NOT to wear them on more than one occasion just because they didn't fit properly or was too lose.

Thankfully I get a pretty sweet offer from Phonak in regards to a fully customised molded set that fits my ears like a charm. Fixed 30db filter I think it is as well as Impulsedampening for when I go shooting or are near stuff that goes boom. After I got them I have started to wear them almost exclusively if I am some place where I might be exposed to a lot of noise or noise impulses.

These are actually more or less the exact kind I got: http://www.phonak-communications.com/en/products/hearing-protection/serenity-classic/

I almost always wear hearing protection when using large fire arms, and when in working, since I work around loud equipment.

But the m1008 isn't that loud, someone had filled every nook and cranny in the hood with spray foam and my stereo isn't that loud

I couldn't go 5 min on the highway in my deuce without hearing protection

Have tinnitus and hearing loss in mid range, mostly from explosions and gunfire. People wonder why I'm making my deuce quieter haha