Old TVs

My ear has been ringing for 3 weeks and thank god I am finally seeing an ENT this week. Anyway, I've also noticed that when I'm near an older TV it makes a screeching sound in my ear only audible to me and far louder than anything else in the environment. For example, last night I went out to a restaurant. The restaurant was fairly noisy and I was fine with it, but there was a TV on about 30 yards away from where I was seated and the "hum" of the TV was unbelievably loud and uncomfortable. What does this mean?

 

I don't know what it means but the same thing happens to me. I can walk near a room in my house and immediately tell if the TV is on or not. I think old TV's give off some frequency that is undetectable but for some reason it messes with our tinnitus.

 

My T is about the same pitch of an old tv. Certain things seem to make it much louder. Sounds like you have T and hyperacusi.

 

I'm not sure that they necessarily has hyperacusis. In their description it says that the restaurant was fairly noisy and they were fine with it, doesn't sound like hyperacusis to me.

 

Sounds like your tinnitus is reactive to sounds. My tinnitus also reacts to televisions, car radios and other sounds. I hear it's fairly common in new onset tinnitus. For the first like 6 weeks I dreaded watching tv because it made my tinnitus so much louder. I'm 10 weeks in now and get several days a week where I can watch tv or be around the tv with little to no increase. I also wouldn't say it's hyperacusis because you're not bothered by the loud restaurant setting. Same as me. Certain frequencies, road noise, some faucets and also certain people's voices cause my T to react and 'compete with the external noise'. I don't know what this means but others here have told me it usually subsides or becomes more managable as time goes on. Hope that helps.

 

Old cathode ray tube TV's do often make a high pitched sound. Other people might not notice it if their hearing is not great. I think after recent hearing damage your ears might be a bit more sensitive for a while - a mild hyperacusis. Mine were. It seems counterintuitive since the problem is hearing loss/damage, but that was my experience. If this is a common phenomenon then it may possibly help explain why so many people go to the ENT about recent-onset tinnitus and get a hearing test which shows they have great hearing. I think I also read somewhere on the forum that hyperacusis can sometimes be selective about which frequencies it affects, but cannot give you a reference for that I'm afraid (I think it was people discussing on the forum).

Last winter one of the radiators in our house made a high pitched whistling sound that was around the range of my tinnitus and my tinnitus used to react to it, getting louder if I was near the radiator too long. It was a real pain 'cos it was in the living room. I could adjust the flow in the radiator and the whistle would get better for a while, then come back. This winter thankfully the problem just doesn't seem to occur.

Finding the TV whistling loud from 30ft away does seem extreme though.