Laser therapy is most effective treatment for tinnitus, study finds

Medical Xpress / FAPESP / Journal of Personalized Medicine ^ | June 21, 2023 | Julia Moióli / Vitor Hugo Panhóca et al

[ConservativeMind]

Low-level laser therapy and associated photobiomodulation is the most effective of the known treatments for tinnitus, according to a study comparing the main therapies in current use.

Often described as ringing or hissing in the ears, it is considered a symptom rather than a disease, but is unpleasant and in some cases incapacitating. Its known causes can range from a buildup of earwax and insufficient peripheral irrigation in the inner ear to brain damage and bruxism.

Panhóca and his team tested alternative and complementary treatments for idiopathic (with no apparent cause) and refractory tinnitus on more than 100 men and women aged 18-65, divided randomly into ten groups. The treatments tested were laser acupuncture, flunarizine dihydrochloride, Ginkgo biloba (a medicinal plant), and low-level laser stimulation of the internal auditory canal or meatus (transmeatal stimulation), on its own and combined with vacuum therapy, ultrasound, G. biloba or flunarizine dihydrochloride.

The patients were submitted to eight twice-per-week treatment sessions. They were clinically assessed before treatment began, after the eighth session and two weeks later, using a "tinnitus handicap inventory questionnaire" with a total of 25 questions. A functional subscale comprised 11 questions on mental, social, occupational and physical limitations due to tinnitus.

The best outcomes were observed in patients treated with laser acupuncture alone and transmeatal low-power laser stimulation alone. In the latter case, they improved even more when irradiation time was increased from 6 minutes to 15 minutes. Combinations of laser therapy with vacuum therapy or G. biloba, laser acupuncture alone, and flunarizine dihydrochloride alone also had lasting therapeutic effects.

"The positive effects include anti-inflammatory action and relaxation. We believe laser therapy can increase peripheral irrigation, which may be the main cause of the problem in many cases, as well as stimulating inner ear cell proliferation and collagen production," Panhóca said.

[BipolarBob]

Did they let you try them to see if they worked? I guess when you’re doing the exam you’d be trying them. Was there an obligation if after the exam to buy them?

[peggybac]

Don’t know about tinnitus, but MLS laser therapy enabled me to walk again after a messed up disc. I could barely stand and after a few sessions, I was walking like normal.

[KittyKares]

Are there nutritional aids for tinnitus? I have a very mild version myself.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Does anyone here know of any nutritional approaches that have worked for them?

Yes. For me.

I began having difficulty hearing because of the ringing, which became roaring.

I also began to experience vertigo and general dizziness.

Took some googling to land on Meniere's disease.

Then some googling to find a potential natural cure at earth clinic.

Tried it and it took just 7 days to fix. Ringing, roaring and dizziness are gone.

If you have an interest, pm me and I'll give details.

[Senormechanico]

I REALLY like my Eargo 7’s.

[Blurb2350]

How exactly do hearing aides stop tinnitus?

[ETCM]

I have doubts about the laser/red light therapies, but I offer this write up because people with tinnitus can have a pretty hard time with it.

It doesn't help that I have almost completely lost confidence in medical "studies and trials" after the past 3 years. The system is broken. I have pretty severe tinnitus. I worked around guns, missiles and heavy machinery for 30 years.

[bethelgrad]

I’ve had tinnitus so long I have to focus to even notice it. I suppose my brain has adjusted.

[Fai Mao]

No obligation to buy. If you are a Sam’s member the exam is free.

[Hodar]

I have tinnitus
Tried nutritional and other remedies. Then went to an Ear Nose and Throat Specialist. Yeah, that’s a $35 copay vs the normal $25

Here is MY diagnosis. Due to genetics, age, loud rock and roll, shooting without hearing protection, farm work - the hairs in my inner ear are gone. But the nerves that connected to them are fine.

The nerves are hypersensitive and feedback on the frequency you cannot hear. As I have mild hearing loss, with tinnitus- I got hearing aides that have a tinnitus setting. They have really made a difference. First month reduced my apparent volume by at least half. 2 years later; it’s still there but a fraction of the volume it was.

[Fai Mao]

Because my hearing loss is caused by nerve damage. (I had a skull fracture just above the right ear.) Since I can’t hear the brain makes up sound to fill the silence. At least that is what they told me. All I know is that when I have the hearing aides in, the tinnitus is not there. I’d had the whining, grinding noise in my ears since I was 19.

[ConservativeMind]

There are a few, with pycnogenol being one of them.

[RandallFlagg]

Tinnitus ping.
Fire a Death Star cannon through the head?
Why not?

[aimhigh]

Ginkgo biloba and reducing salt worked for me. But I found it takes high quality ginkgo. Cheap gingko doesn’t work.

[jerod]

I’ve have tinnitus and sleep apnea for decades and my solution to both, which is very cost effective and cost well... Absolutely nothing... Is to ignore the ringing and to wake up when I stop breathing.

I’m pretty sure I have saved thousands.

[minnesota_bound]

If you shine a laser light in one ear, you will see the light come out the other ear....

[mad_as_he$$]

ping

[mad_as_he$$]

I have tried all of the nutritional ones that I can find - no help.

Following this thread to see if someone found some new approach.

[WinMod70]

Thanks! Until I read this post I had not noticed I had tinnitus for some time. Now that you mentioned it, I still have it.

[sauropod]

I’ve got tinnitus. Bigtime.