Hearing damage in combat?

[Blankku]

Now this is something that I've always wondered about and is never brought up in Hollywood action movies and the like (The only one I can remember is Black Hawk Down):

How did the soldiers of WW2 not all go deaf from being in combat and shooting without hearing protection? How about today? Everyone who has fired a real weapon knows that firing even a few rounds without hearing protection, even from a pistol, will **** your hearing up for a long time (haven't been lucky enough to experience it myself, despite shooting quite a bit ). The effect is multiplied indoors (can you imagine firing an M-N carbine indoors!). One guy told of firing an M240 without hearing protection and being deaf for several days afterwards, another of firing 3 rounds of .45 and having his ears ring for the rest of the day. You won't see a single person without proper protection at a civilian or military range, it would be extremely stupid.

Hunters have told me that the inital ringing is suppressed by the excitement and adrenaline surrounding the shot, but how can anyone keep their eardrums intact in combat without plugs?

I know the Germans were forced to field some "Ear" units of soldiers who had suffered hearing damage in combat. Supposedly they were braver because they couldn't hear the frightening din of battle, but they were also very hard to command!

Maybe this is just a little-known but extremely widespread phenomenon, like the fact that only a minority of soldiers in WW2 actually were willing to fire directly at their fellow human beings, the rest fired blindly or otherwise faked it.

Share your knowledge.

 

[Piron]

I know the Germans were forced to field some "Ear" units of soldiers who had suffered hearing damage in combat.

They also had 'stomach' units. With soldiers all having the same food diet.

 

[User Name]

A friend of mine served as a machine gunner on a tank over in Iraq during the invasion and he said he's suffered some permanent hearing loss from it. Of course he was firing a .50 caliber machine gun. he said they didn't wear hearing protection during combat because it made it harder to give and receive orders.

I fired a full clip out of my Garand without hearing protection once just to see what our guys in WWII went through. It wasn't quite as loud as when I fired my M44 without hearing protection,(only fired that once like that, that hurt my ears!) but my ears were ringing for a while after that.

 

[Desantnik]

I actually have 20% hearing loss in my right ear due to firing the mortar. After firing the m249 saw as well as my m16a4 for a while even on the fire ranges I have a hard time hearing for several days afterwards.

 

[KrazyKraut]

I often asked myself the same question, I could imagine a few days of fighting would ruin your ears forever.

I once fired the MG3 without hearing protection to see what it was like. Boy that hurt! And my ears kept ringing for the rest of the day. But to be honest i found the P8 (USP 9mm) to be even worse.

 

[Zoring]

Fired a magazine from a Colt .45 once without hearing protection (accident, still had the bloody things around my neck) Coulden't hear anything but pain after the first shot, ears were sore for the rest of the day.

 

[Velcro Warrior]

Fired a magazine from a Colt .45 once without hearing protection (accident, still had the bloody things around my neck) Coulden't hear anything but pain after the first shot, ears were sore for the rest of the day.

I put 40 rounds through my M44 with no problems; Yes, it's quite loud. I now wear hearing protection since my vision is so poor, but I consider myself to have excellent hearing and I'd like to keep it like that...

 

[Zbojnik]

If shooting a weapon damages your hearing think what being in an artillery strike does. Especially if there using "screaming meemies."

 

[Phoenix-D]

Fired a magazine from a Colt .45 once without hearing protection (accident, still had the bloody things around my neck) Coulden't hear anything but pain after the first shot, ears were sore for the rest of the day.

Ok, first shot- that's an accident.

But firing the whole magazine?

 

[Panzer Meyer]

I fired some 50 rounds with my Yugo Mauser and some 50 other rounds with my M1 Carbine without hearing protection. At the time I thought I was fine, wasn't all that bad...When I got in my car to drive home, I couldn't even hear the car start or hear the engine. I could barely hear anything for the rest of the day, last time I did that.

 

[Zoring]

Well it was in the middle of everyone else firing and since everyone goes and checks there targets afterwards they get a bit edgy if there's a loaded weapon lying on a table so i figured i'd just empty it Only hurt for a day!

 

[Oberst Freitag]

When you're around loud noises for large amounts of time...you're body produces more ear wax that helps with dealing with loud noises. It doesnt always work but it helps in some cases...and i wouldnt be surprised if some soldiers stuffed cotton or some fabric into there ears to help stifle the noises. That and a lot of luck i guess...pilots had it just as worse as infantry in combat sitting behind a 2000hp engine at full throttle (my grandfather suffered some hearing lose)

 

[Waxx]

My father was in an M42 Duster turret and also put some time in on a quad .50 throughout his tour of duty in Vietnam. Today he can't hear all that well and, as he describes it, does hear a constant hissing all day, every day. He doesn't notice it much anymore, but it is there.

 

[[CoFR]BooBoo]

30+ years of shooting, including plenty of rounds fired without benefit of hearing protectors, has left me with permanent hearing loss in both ears. Most of the damage is in the high-middle tones in my left ear, but both ears have suffered.

I've known quite a few WWII combat vets. Nearly all have profound hearing loss because of exposure to gunfire. One US Navy vet served in an AA gun on a heavy cruiser and was nearly deaf. Exposure to 40mm and 20mm gunfire, as well as the blast of the cruiser's 8" guns did irreperable damage to his hearing.

 

[Creutz]

Now this is something that I've always wondered about and is never brought up in Hollywood action movies and the like (The only one I can remember is Black Hawk Down):

How did the soldiers of WW2 not all go deaf from being in combat and shooting without hearing protection? How about today? Everyone who has fired a real weapon knows that firing even a few rounds without hearing protection, even from a pistol, will **** your hearing up for a long time (haven't been lucky enough to experience it myself, despite shooting quite a bit ). The effect is multiplied indoors (can you imagine firing an M-N carbine indoors!). One guy told of firing an M240 without hearing protection and being deaf for several days afterwards, another of firing 3 rounds of .45 and having his ears ring for the rest of the day. You won't see a single person without proper protection at a civilian or military range, it would be extremely stupid.

I guess while in combat your priority is your life and not your hearing.

I know the Germans were forced to field some "Ear" units of soldiers who had suffered hearing damage in combat. Supposedly they were braver because they couldn't hear the frightening din of battle, but they were also very hard to command!

Imagine WWIII , we would have IPOD and Garageband Bataljons,

 

[Ruprecht13]

I can't wear standard ear plugs without it affecting my balance somehow (inner ear issue). It's also extremely difficult to hear things much quieter than gunfire with the damn things in. I solved all that & was able to qualify as expert with M16, M249 & M60 by using cigarette butts in my ears. They don't muffle the sound as completely as regulation plugs, but at least I can shoot straight.
I must say, however, that when invlolved in a firefight, the last thing you're going to worry about is earplugs. The worst thing isn't the small arms fire - incoming mortars are a bit more deafening.
My worst experience with sound was being in precisely the optimum spot when two claymores fired simultaneously. At the time, it was just really ****ing loud ( I was about 20 meters behind and smack in the middle of them), but about 4 days later I suddenly had vertigo which lasted for a couple of days. The blast evidently did something to my inner ear.
I can't imagine the effect of the sheer volume of fire experienced by the guys in WWII.

 

[pookie]

Me and a buddy once went out with our AKs and burned through 1000 rounds in a couple hours. I forgot my earplugs, but after the first magazine it didn't seem so bad. By the time we got back to the car, I had 100% hearing loss in my right ear & maybe 50% in the left. That lasted about 3 days, and came back sloooowly. Scared the **** outa me, and I've never gone without plugs since!

Huh?

 

[Raptus]

Just think of the guys inside a tank that is shot by another tank but the round doesn't penetrate. That can't be fun.

 

[Wolfstuka]

ya if you have ever worn a steel military helmet and been hit on the head with
almost anything hard but especially something metal you get a nice ringing in your ears for a few seconds now multiply that by a thousand and there is what it would sound like

 

[User Name]

Just think of the guys inside a tank that is shot by another tank but the round doesn't penetrate. That can't be fun.

It's better than the guy in the tank where the round did penetrate!