Does Watching TV on Mute Still Spike Your Tinnitus?

Hi there,

Does anyone else have the problem where watching a big screen TV on mute, with no sound, still spikes your tinnitus? If so, have you found the cause and any workarounds?

I have had this issue for years. I tried 4 LCD TV's back in 2016 from 4 different brands and they all spiked my tinnitus while on mute. I tried an OLED TV this week hoping new display tech would make a difference but it didn't. It really spiked my tinnitus. It's still spiked after 2 days. I wish I knew what's causing it and try to solve it. I can't hear anything from the TV but perhaps my ears are picking up faint electrical noise in the circuitry? I miss at least watching TV.

 

Have you tried a blind test? This sounds like paranoia...

 

Would it not be possible to find that out by watching a muted TV with additional hearing protection, like a Peltor X5A or Moldex Spark Plugs?

 

FWIW, my tinnitus spikes when I’m in a room that’s too quiet. Just a thought if it’s really quiet there with the TV on mute.

 

Why are you watching TV on mute? Are you sitting in a quiet room? Maybe your ears are straining to hear.

 

Because any sound from a speaker spikes my tinnitus. I can't use a phone even. I have to use a caption app. I have reactive tinnitus. I haven't listened to music since I got tinnitus so it's always pretty quiet in my room. So I don't think my ears are straining to hear anything. It doesn't happen if I watch something with subtitles on my phone when muted.

Eventually I can but right now I can't because my tinnitus is still spiked from 2 days ago. It needs to go back to baseline first. I'm just trying to find out if this is happening to others.

 

If a phone in lieu of a TV set does not cause the same problems as a full-size TV, it would seem to me that this is pretty compelling evidence that it's not watching movies per se that triggers your tinnitus.

The most salient difference seems to be that your phone is a battery-powered device, while your TV set has most likely a switching power supply (like they are common in TV sets and similar appliances). Customers frequently complain about annoying sounds and noises from such power supplies, and my own (limited) experience suggests that sounds you cannot consciously hear are nonetheless able to trigger tinnitus.

It would seem to me that there are two routes from here: The simple one would be to try out watching with hearing protection so that you don't hear whatever sound might emanate from your power supply, the other one would be to power the TV set differently.

 

Power the TV differently how?

I did try using one of these and it didn't help.

 

What video games can you play without sound?

I have read some of your posts. You have reactive tinnitus and you like video games. Reactive tinnitus is very debilitating and I feel like I literally can't enjoy anything anymore. I'm so depressed I hear my tinnitus constantly. The tinnitus is too distracting even with TV. I find myself looking more at the subtitles on TV then the faces on it when I watch on mute. Mine is not noise induced so I don't know if protecting my hearing would help. I don't go to loud places.

 

Hello !

To me it can happen also... But it is more related to my eyes I feel and also the fact that in front of screens it makes us more nervous than in front of a book per example...

I know if I watch too much screen I will feel tight in all my body, and especially my jaw...

 

TV Update:

So I rented a precision sound meter. They cost about $1,000 to buy. The one I rented could detect up to 16 kHz. When turning on the TV with no sound, there is an increase in high frequency sound at around 12.5 kHz. About 1 dB increase.

Is that what's causing it? Who knows. My other theory was that it might be some kind of RF noise/wave.

So right now I am testing the TV while wearing earplugs and earmuffs. Today was the first day. My tinnitus usually spikes when I use earmuffs so I won't know if it's really a spike until tomorrow. If I'm fine with earmuffs and the noise can be contained, I have found a place what can make me a custom acrylic box that I can encase the TV inside to block any electrical noise. So that's the final plan if earmuffs are effective.

I have also started testing home theater projectors. I got one with the lowest fan noise, an Epson 5050UB with a fan noise rating of 20 dB on ECO mode. With earmuffs, the projector is fine. So that's my last resort option.

I play every game without sound. At first it was weird but now I'm used to. Actually I think i play better with out sound. I'm able to focus better. I know some pro players who also play without sound on purpose. Battlefield, GTA, Cyberpunk, Forza... No problems.

Yes, having to read subtitles does suck because you can't look at people's faces as much. But again, I got used it.

 

If you're watching TV on mute, your hyperacusis must be terrible. If your tinnitus is spiking from watching TV on mute, that is complete paranoia. In my experience if you're not feeling pain in your ears or hearing any noise at all, there's no way your spike is noise related.

I have bad hyperacusis. I can tolerate some sounds and others I cannot. If you have the TV on a low volume, you will be fine. It is impossible to get hearing loss from listening to TV on a low volume. You need to subject yourself to normal noise again, even if it bothers you. It's retraining your ears. You must start subjecting yourself to noise again unless you want to live under a rock the rest of your life.