hunting with tinnitus?

[ballen28115]

I've had it for 25 years or more, just trained myself to spot motion.  I do better when it is quiet.  At home, I just about go crazy if some one is trying to talk to me over say, the exhaust fan over the stove or running water.

[neargeezer]

Tractors on the farm, cases of shotgun shells shot each season, loud music and I had tinnitus and hearing loss diagnosed in high school. I truly don't remember not having the ringing. I don't usally think of it much anymore as I'm 55 now.

Once in a great while when hunting by myself for a few days it will suddenly stop. The first thing that goes through my mind is "Oh crap, I've finally gone deaf!" I always end up snapping my fingers or something to be sure I can still hear. I'm a little releived when the ringing soon comes back. Stupid I know, but when your older even a good change can be hard to take.

[bawana bowman]

I've had it for roughly 32 years never paid it much attention till about 10 years ago. Then it started getting worse, can't hear someone standing next to me talking if there is any background noise. Can't go out to eat and have a conversation with my wife if everyone in restaurant is talking. Really gets to be annoying. A lot of times I just pretend to understand what folks are saying.
Was told to cut back on caffeine and it would lessen the ringing, I haven't drank coffee since 1978, so I cut out sodas and tea. It helped a little. Not much you can do other than live with it. Sure is a pain in the a**!

It can have different causes.  If my chiropractor does his job, I can have a few days off from it.  Quite often there is a pressure from a jaw joint under the ear, as well tightness in the neck, that can cause it.  i have found that if i sing opera arias at full volume it will go away for the day at times.  The high notes and the massive amount of breathing required to hit them can balance the inner ear pressure and open the vessels that cause the hiss.

[Doc Nock]

Gee, I thought it rather something special that God gave me personally so I'd "never be alone!"  

Tried a Walker Game Ear. Uh-huh. Works...but I look like one of those bobble head dolls trying to figure out what direction the sound I hear is coming from!

Walker's suggestion was to buy ANOTHER of his gizmo's so they'd balance and restore "directional" hearing!

Ummm-nah.  Katy-dids and cricket seranade even in the dead of winter... ah...spring and summer year around. Just go to a quiet place.

When the soothsayers tell you to seek solace in your quiet place... I KNOW he's not talkin to ME!

 

[JRY309]

I have had it since last October,went to the ear doctor and did a lot of testing.He didn't find anything,so there wasn't much I could do about it.Some days it is worse then others,it is a lot better now then when I first got it.I'm getting used to it alittle now,but I just can't hear the fine soft sounds like I used to.

[KumaSan]

I've had it for many, many years, and most of the time I can ignore it. Sometimes (like right now) it's loud. I have found that ear candeling helps a little, but temporary. At least it gets quieter. Hearing aids compensate for the sounds in the woods, but will not cure or cover it.

[wvbowbender]

Thsi topic should be read by all those who don't have the malady!  Although there is no cure, in MOST cases there is a prevention.  When you listen to music - keep the volume down.  If you use a chain saw - wear hearing protection.  When you use any power tools - wear hearing protection. When you shoot any firearm - wear hearing protection.  When you cut the grass - wear hearing protection.  Learn the lesson from those of us who are too late to help.  I realized how bad mine really was when I would comment on how quiet my bow was and my buddies would all give me these strange looks.

[bfrbmj]

I am 42 and have had tinnitus as long as I can remember.  Always needed a fan to sleep with.  Drove my parents nuts when I was a kid and would take it out of the closet in the middle of winter and turned it on.  I always use hearing protection but have all of the issues mention before.  I had a physical a couple of years ago and had my ears looked at- nothing they could do for the noise but they cleaned them out good- I went hunting the next day and actually heard my first grunt ever- from a doe that was 50 or so yards away.

[Earl E. Nov...mber]

Huh??? What did you say???  Darn crickets anyway...

[sticksnstones]

This is one of the most interesting threads I've read in a while, I'm really glad to know I'm not alone! I've had it since childhood and barely got into the infantry with it because I was borderline non-recruitable for hearing loss. It got FAR worse sitting behind an M60 for a few years.

Like everyone above, you're gonna have to use your eyes, use your terrain, use the wind, use whatever you've got in your favor because you ain't gonna hear them coming!

I'll say one other thing, my wife developed it at 40 when her thyroid went wonky. She got on thyroid hormone and it almost went away. I'm not saying there is a cure, but one persons reason for having it might not be the same as someone else (But us old grunts are screwed, probably the same for carpenters and lumberjacks too.)

[firsted]

Seems odd that most folks hear the same kind of noise - guess I was hoping that what I'm hearing was a temporary incident.  I guess the real test will come later this year, in the woods.  Just have to be a better hunter & take this thing into account in my strategy & tactics.

[KSdan]

I have tinnitus and violent vertigo. Been to Mayo and other things.  Wish there was cure.  Certainly diet, low salt, and various natural remedies really can help the tinnitus. I have to be careful.  

50 yrs old this year and realizing that getting older is REAL! Staying in shape etc. is no longer to get stronger but simply to maintain what I can.  Not the same as I was.  Been hunting more with my eyes (which are changing too!  Crap!!)

Blessings
Dan in KS

[Karebru]

Been hunting more with my eyes (which are changing too! Crap!!)

Yep. There's that too. I'm starting to feel like Helen Keller!

[free2bow]

I have a friend who says he has trouble hearing because of exposure to loud noises.  What does he do but continue to shoot a lot without protection...I wish he would think more seriously about preserving his hearing before he realizes his neglect has made things worse.

[centaur]

I have had it for many years. Now that the subject has been brought up, my ears are ringing like crazy! It is something that never leaves, but over 40 plus years I have gotten used to it. I sleep with a fan blasting so it somewhat drowns the ringing.
As far as hunting/outdoor stuff, my wife tells me that there are crickets chirping, but you couldn't tell it by me. I can still hear elk bugling, but I may be missing some of that, as well. The high pitched alarms, like on a watch, are useless for me.
FYI for you ex military types, if you got tinnitus in the service, make sure and file a claim with the VA; it is a compensable disability if it is service connected. Mine came from turbine engines, minieguns, and M60s. I bet a lot of you may have the same situation if you were around noisy things in the military.

[tim roberts]

Had it for years.  Can hear an elk bugle, but unless I see em I don't know the direction it came from.
One big problem, is I can be standing on a rattler and I'll never hear it.
Like any other disability, the best thing to do is learn to over come it by using your other senses.

[Huntschool]

I suspect, if we were to put this into a "class" situation, most vets with an active duty status during a "situation" will have it. Also, many of us who attended, participated in, or just were a part of a generational music thing would also have it....

I, personally have it covered on all fronts.  To start with shooting at a young age with no hearing protection.  Who knew....

Then there were those early money making days of 1964-67 with thousands of watts of amplifiers 6-15 ft. behind me or fifty ft in front of me... Then too much of that other stuff males of my generation were privlidged to participate in, you all get the picture I know....

I hear it every day..  I am hearing it right now as several others have said.  I guess I have learned to "tune it out" in a way.  Like Broke Tooth, my eyes, although I now wear glasses, have been good to me.  Thank God!

Now, when I shoot guns, which is almost every day starting when the weather gets ok here, I wear plugs and muffs...  sometimes only one or the other, sometimes both.

Ya cant get rid of it.  Ya just have to let it become a part of who you are and go for it. Truthfully, I did not even notice it until I started typing this.  Now I hear it.  Has it messed up my life... yea, kinda.  Same as several have posted.. If there is background nois I am in a spot.  In the classroom I just tell my students to shut up and let the one guy speak cause the ole deaf sob cant hear otherwise.  My wife, God bless her, has adapted.  She trys to speak directly at me facing me...  That helps... When we are out she will touch my arm and that lets me know to look at her.  If we are in a crouded place with a lot of background noise, like a resturant, I will try to focus on her face and I guess I do a bit of "lip reading"...

Ya can get around it...  I think I have....

[Richard in OK]

Good thread. I've had tinnitus for about 20 years (I'm 66). Sometimes it's loud, sometimes not. It usually results from damage due to loud noises that causes the cilia in the ear to fire all by themselves instead of reacting to external sounds. That's why it doesn't go away. I have found that good hearing aids help me hear better, but don't mask the tinnitus. I'm told that white noise (as some of you have discovered with fans) can mask the sound. Be sure everyone uses hearing protection around loud noises.

Richard

[fivebears]

I almost feel bad saying that I'm glad to see that I'm not alone with this problem.I've had it for about 5 yrs. now.At first it was very annoying and I thought I was going to go crazy,probably because I was focusing on it so much.I guess I have learned to accept it now because sometimes I'm hardly aware of it.Right now it is quite noticable......