There is nothing like going to the gun range after a long day, especially if you have a passion for hunting or shooting. It is an excellent way to relieve stress, but without proper protection, a day at the range can have adverse effects on your ear health. 

Your passions should never put your health or physical wellbeing in jeopardy. Protecting your ears while shooting is the responsible thing to do, especially since people who use guns often are more susceptible to hearing loss, tinnitus and other hearing issues. The addition of a recoil compensator and other modifications can make them even louder.

If you expose your ears to sound levels adobe 85 decibels, you can seriously cause noise-induced hearing loss. Keep in mind that most firearms cause noise that is more than 85 decibels. Loud noises can permanently damage the fine hairs in your ears that are tasked with stimulating auditory nerve fibers. That is why protecting your ears while using a gun is so important.

Effects of hearing loss

Typically, high-frequency sounds like s, f, sh, ch, h or soft c sounds are the first sounds to go when you experience hearing loss. All of those are crucial to effectively communicating and engaging with the world around you. Without being able to hear these things, it can be really annoying and frustrating to do simple things like enjoying a relaxing conversation at dinner time with your friends and family.
Another effect of hearing loss is tinnitus, which is incurable. Tinnitus makes things sound like a whooshing, ringing, soft or loud buzzing. You can have it in either one ear or both. All it takes is one shot to damage your hearing forever. Keep in mind that hearing loss is not always an all of a sudden thing. Sometimes it happens over time.

Protecting your ears when shooting

Now that you know the effects of hearing loss and why it is important to protect your ears while you are shooting or hunting, we can dive into how to protect your ears. There are a few things you can do.

Make sure you know the difference between hearing enhancement and hearing protection. Hearing enhancement is exactly what it sounds like; it helps you amplify your hearing. 

When looking for ear protection, you should look for a hearing enhance that also reduces gunshot noise. You could opt for earmuffs since they are literally designed to fit close to your head. The design of earmuffs alone is enough to significantly reduce the sound of the outside noise. Typically, they use acoustic foam. You can also choose to wear earmuffs with earplugs to take it a step further. They can reduce harmful noises more effectively when used together. 

Another option is to use shooting earplugs. Because they come in such a wide variety it is recommended that you consult a professional when picking out the best one for you. You can get a custom earplug, an electronic shooter earplug, or a reusable shooter earplug. All are useful in their own way.

Custom earplugs are perfect if you are a professional shooter or hunter. They are molded by a hearing professional specifically designed to fit your ear canal. Custom earplugs offer quality, secure and comfortable ear protection. You can even use some of these on a daily basis.

Electronic shooter earplugs are slightly different but just as effective. Digital sound technology does the heavy lifting to flatten noise that is above the damaging decibel level and can also enhance softer sounds. You can even get some that offer background noise reduction to decrease background noise. Another thing that makes electronic shooter earplugs appealing to frequent gun users is their size. They are much smaller than typical earmuffs.

Lastly, you can go for reusable shooter earplugs. They are commonly made out of either foam material, putty material or silicone material.

What is the best ear protection?

This ultimately is dependent upon what your needs are. Everyone’s threshold of ear health is different. If your goals are to reduce noise, maybe you want to go for the earmuff option. Maybe you are someone who frequents the gun range or takes frequent hunting trips in which case you will need custom earplugs. 

Still not sure which option you should go with? No problem! Hearing Aid Consultants of North Mississippi LLC can provide you with our expertise so you can make informed decisions on the purchase of your next ear protection. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you in your journey towards better hearing. Give us a call at (662) 234-1337 or schedule online to get started!