Hobbies that Lead to Hearing Loss: Recreational Shooting At the start of hunting seasons across the nation, many thousands of outdoor recreation adventurers will be gearing up for their fall hunts. Along with their warmest sleeping bags, sturdiest tents, and most dependable camo getup, hunters this fall will take great care to safely and cautiously stow their weapons into their trucks before heading off into the wilderness after the game of their choice. Hunting has long since been a recreational activity enjoyed by many, but one characteristic of hunting that can be especially harmful to the sportsmen is the thunderous boom of their rifle, shotgun, or pistol when they fire off their rounds. Firearms have many other dangers that have been associated with them, but those experienced sportsmen who know how to safely handle their weapons without possible incident may still be missing one critical detail of hunter safety—ear protection. Many may be aware, but few can truly fathom the amount of damage that the concussive sound of a gunshot can do to the human ear. When a firearm shoots, whether it is a pistol, shotgun, or rifle, the sound emanating from the weapons is justifiably labeled as deafening.
High Decibel Activity Exposure to high decibels produced by gunshots does damage to mechanisms and biological workings of the inner ear. These inner workings are composed of what is commonly referred to as the ear drum. The ear drum of an individual is the inner organ of the ear that is composed of tiny bones and the cochlea, which is a snail shaped organ that is filled with fluid and tiny hair-like mechanisms which, when all is working together, transmits electrical pulses to the brain that we understand to be the sounds of the outside world. Working as a sort of transmitter or translator, which ever analogy works best for an individual to comprehend, the ear drum with its intricate inner workings uses its delicate biological makeup to transfer the vibrations of the outside world into electrical impulses that the brain can then decipher into various noises and reverberations of sound. When damage to the ear drum is present, the vibrations of sound from the outside world cannot be picked up and deciphered by the inner ear, and therefor can lead to hearing loss in the individual. While there are multiple ways in which a person who is suffering from hearing loss can find services to improve their situation, such as hearing aids and hearing loss phones, the better method of treatment for hearing loss is total prevention.
Hearing Loss Prevention Prevention of hearing loss leads back to hunter safety concerning the booming and concussive vibrations and noises produced by their hunting firearm weapons. There are many hunters who know that they need to wear hearing protection while they are practice shooting their weapons or sighting the weapons in for the beginning of the season, but there are few who wear hearing protection during the hunt itself. Contrary to popular belief, even one shot from a firearm can be damaging to the inner ear. So while hunters may excuse themselves from wearing hearing protection while on the hunt due to fact that they may only be firing their weapon once, the danger for hear loss while shooting any number of times, even just once, is great enough that all who wish to be safe while hunting or recreational shooting should always wear hearing protection.