The ear consists of the auricle (external ear), middle ear and internal ear. The auricle catches the sound waves and consists of the ear-concha and the auditory meatus. At the end of the auditory meatus is the tympanic membrane. The tympanic membrane is connected to the ossicles in the middle ear: malleus, incus and stapes. The ossicles make a jointed bone structure where the stapes is connected to the oval window that in turn is followed by the semicircular canals and the cochlea. The semicircular canals are an important part of the sense of balance while the fluid-filled cochlea contains small nerve cells, hairy cells, which in turn sends signal via the auditory nerve to the brain where the signals transforms to conscious sound impressions. Man is born with a certain number of hairy cells and these can not be regenerated. In the picture you find the different parts of the right ear.

High sound levels can cause permanent damage to the small hairy cells in the cochlea. Sometimes we expose ourselves to high sounds during a longer period without finding it unpleasant. Examples of this are visits to the gym, discotheques and rock concerts. The damage can also happen immediately by a sudden loud sound. Examples of this are fireworks, machines, certain tools and firearms.

Fast passing sounds, impulse sounds, can damage the hairy cells immediately and cause permanent hearing-impairment. One shot can be enough to cause a hearing-impairment. The sound should never exceed 140 dB. At hunting one ear is often more exposed. At hunting shooting are most often the receptors of the treble area damaged which makes it difficult to hear high frequent sounds. This can in practice have the result that there is a problem in perceiving certain consonants. The impaired hearing is also often followed by a permanent buzzing in one's ears (Tinnitus). Since there is no cure for this it is very important to protect the hearing during hunting. In the chart below the sound level in decibels are described for different activities.