tinnitis!!!
I played in different bands in my teeneage years and went to a few concerts. Got started shooting with my other dumb@ss friends and didn't wear hearing protection. Joined the guard and went through a few live fire exercises having to hear commands from my squad leader and later issue commands to my fire team.
I have frequency holes in my hearing and tinnitis. My hearing isn't so bad now (37) but I'm deathly afraid of needing hearing aids later in life. Some things I can't seem to hear while others I can hear distinctly. Watching tv or movies drives me crazy because the dialog is never louder than the darn soundtrack, but I can hear my kids kicking their feet against a chair in the next room. The ringing isn't noticible most of the time but when its real quite I can hear it. Very rarely it's almost loud enough to keep me up at night. I also sleep better on one side, I guess the ear that hears better is against the pillow.
It's not so bad that you'd notice if you knew me, but it drives me insane.
Hearing protection is not an option it's really mandatory. By the time you notice a difference you're already kinda dorked over.
But there are also a lot of other things that damage your hearing. Any loud noise for an extended amount of time.
Sorry, had to get that off my chest. Rant/ confessions/ warning over.
edit to add: Didn't mean to highjack the thread, now back to the original topic. I don't notice recoil as much when I'm really focused, but when I'm not really in the moment it starts hurting.