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Hearing Loss!
Protection Muffs!
Looking back over a life-span, I’ve done things that I’m not proud of; I can say that most were done out of ignorance, just didn’t know any better. However, in the last 50+ years, I can see where technology development has improved our daily lives. A good example of that is with the safety aspects of hunting. I can remember when wearing hearing protection, on the firing range, was just a faint-thought; one considered not very fashionable and most often ignored.
The type of hearing loss caused by unprotected exposure to loud noises, such as gun fire, is called Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL). It occurs when there is damage to the inner ear or the pathways to the brain. Most of the time, this type of injury results in a hearing loss that may or may-not be treatable.
As my Grandmother used to say: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”! Wear hearing protection when exposed to sustained gun fire/loud noises. If so, you might be able to prolong that period of time without the need for hearing aids, and, Oh Yes! – that constant ringing in the ears (tinnitus) will drive you crazy. BE SMART!
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During my earlier shooting/hunting years, I was not a big believer in the need to wear hearing protection when firing a weapon. I carried to extreme, the notion that you shouldn’t wear it because doing so restricted your hearing and created a safety hazard. Also, you told yourself, the fog that the firing created in your head/ears would only last a couple days and then go away - so why sweat it?
Not quite, I have been diagnosed with Tinnitus and am currently being fitted with hearing aids. The Doctor said that this is a direct result of being exposed to loud firing noises for an extended or sustained period of time. There are presently sounds and tones that I’ll never be able to hear again.
Even-though I accept full responsibility for my hearing condition, there is no consolation when forced to tell someone to “say it again”, because you couldn’t hear/understand them. I do, at this point, wish that I would’ve paid more attention to the Hearing Protection advocates/literature back then, and as mama would say, son – “NOT TOO SMART”!
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