Light Therapy in Treatment of Tinnitus...

Interesting Erik!

I use light therapy - called Light Relief - and it works great for aches, inflammation swelling, sprains, etc.

Too bad there isn't more on this technology.

The future in medicine is light and sound!!!

 

Interesting thanks for posting Erik, I do remember reading about this last year in an article.

Since I live in London I think it might be worth going to pay a visit to the Science museum. Last time I was there was on a school trip when I was a kid!

 

Found your post Erik as i was going to start one,a further study from Leicester NHS trust has shown a trial with 94 people ,45% had their T noise halved ,with blue light having the greatest effect

 

Hi carlover. Would you have a link to the new study? Thanks.

 

Hi, excited to be here. I've posted over at TSMB for a while. This board seems to emphasize research and new treatments, which is great! I'm pretty much fully habituated and rarely hear my tinnitus, but being something of a science junkie (total amateur....no professional experience) who loves to read about studies and research in general, I am happy to have found a place to both read and share about tinnitus related research!

In case anyone is curious about my nick...it's a reference to a famous New Orleans street corner. I'm not from there, but it's one of my favorite places to go and the nick is just pure randomness.

I had a post ready to go but it contained links, and you have to have at least one post without links to prevent spam. So, I thought I'd introduce myself.

 

There has been some work in mice and humans on LLLT (near infrared lower level light therapy) at Mass General in Boston for TBI. LLLT was tested on two case studies (link below) and showed very promising results. I also found article discussing LLLT being investigated for depression.

The case studies were published in May 2011. A more recent study from 2013 shows promise for severe TBI in mice (also conducted at Mass General). I was told by the director of the case studies via e-mail that Mass General was going to test the same LLLT device used with in the case studies in a human trial in 2012. However, I can't find any articles about this, but the mice study they conducted showed very promising results. (For whatever reason, they appeared to have gone back to mice subjects.... possibly to rule out side effects before proceeding with more human studies).

I have read in more than one article/ study that tinnitus might involve chronic inflammation. LLLT appears to possibly address inflammation. This might explain its at least partial efficacy in humans.

Human case studies published May, 2011; Mass General Boston:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3104287/

Mouse study published January, 2013; Mass General Boston:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23308226

 

Hi Royal&Bourbon and welcome to TT!

Did a recent pubmed search (not comprehensive) on LLLT and tinnitus. Of the six articles encountered, four were favorable. I agree that chronic inflammation is part of tinnitus--at least when it's of a cochlear origin. From personal experiences, I've found some relief whenever I take my nasal steroids, and an increase in symptoms when I've withdrawn from them. (And I don't think this is from a "rebound effect.")

Did your contact at Mass General talk about specifically about tinnitus studies or just TBI--though, obviously, tinnitus often accompanies such injuries so researchers should note this too?

Here's are the links. The first four are positive; the second two are negative. The most recent one, 2011, appears first:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3063436/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19205171

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17625032

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14505199

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18843180

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18616089

(BTW, I've been to New Orleans. Awesome place! Can still taste the coffee and beignets at the Cafe du Monde! )

 

jazz,

Haha I actually considered a jazz reference for my screen name.

Thanks for those links! Some of the more knowledgeable posters on the other tinnitus board I visit have pretty much dismissed LLLT in the past, possibly based on the next to the last study you linked to above, but I believe there is some promise that some form of this therapy will help sufferers.

One huge advantage to this type of treatment is the ease of use. There is no need for any sub-cranial implants, and the device can be portable and used in the home without much difficulty or any discomfort.

Similar devices to those used in the TBI case study are actually currently available on the market for use in the home, according to my contact at Mass General, and cost somewhere around $4000 USD (give or take...and at the time I looked them up online in 2011). They are, however, controlled medical devices, and need a prescription or a letter from a doctor to purchase, if I remember correctly. I actually did not mention tinnitus in my inquiry since my primary concern is TBI and I only hear my tinnitus now and then due to apparent habituation.

Thankfully, my TBI symptoms have generally subsided as I was told they probably would over time. I'm not 100%, but getting better! Anyway, thanks for the welcome and the links. This seems like a great place!

 

Bourbon, thanks so much for posting here.

 

Hi Grant sorry cant help with a link,It was an article in a British Newspaper The Daily Mail. Funny ,they do a health page section every week ,and T figures In a lot of them ,wonder if the editer Is a sufferer

 

I see this post was some time back. Are there any further updates? Anyone tried this? Market availability?

 

I did some searching but have not found any updates, I do have questions though. Would this line of treatment be related to the Bioptron? If recall correctly the Bioptron has been said to be quackery and a questionable practice.

By chance let us just say this is unrelated and it's just a simple brain hacking technique. What would stop someone from setting up an app on their monitor to simulate the blue colors needed for therapy? The idea of using tinted lenses to reduce migraine and visual discomfort has been well documented over the years. Seeing as how migraines and tinnitus sometimes find themselves on the same card tables warrants a further look I think. Perhaps this is an easier treatment than once thought and would only need the correct prescription of blue tinted reading glasses? In contrast however is the principal that blue light inhibits the production of melatonin.

Any minute now I will probably find myself at 5-am looking rather insane with blue movie-star sunglasses and bright leds strapped to my forehead.

 

Any updates to this study? This looks interesting but we do not hear about it lately.

 

Sounds great, where can I buy one of these coloured lamps

 

This is interesting. The true cure or alleviation could very well be along the lines of giving the brain something else to worry about, and it doesn't necessarily have to be sound. Perhaps trying to cure tinnitus with sound is misguided.

 

"the group of patients stared for 3 hours at very bright colored flashing lights and some reported a reduction of perceived tinnitus loudness for up to 10 minutes at the end of the session"

 

I rang them and spoke to someone in the Hearing department ,they knew nothing of any trials and tbh was unhelpful

Eltel

 

good ROI if ya ask me. lol

 

"the group of patients were hit on the head with a stick for 3 hours while being spun around in circles and some reported a reduction of perceived tinnitus loudness for up to 10 minutes at the end of the session"

 

Slightly related here...

I was at a place last summer with a few art installations. One of them was a zoetrope, it was huge, 3 levels of things going on. All through it spinning around I did not notice my tinnitus at all. It was only after it stopped that I heard it again, was like a jolt realising it was still there.

I made a note to look into it further but of course I have pages of these sorts of notes... It does lend a bit of credibility to me for distraction using visual stimulus. Although like I said, it was there as soon as it finished. Maybe a portable strobe light on some Google Glasses is the answer?

Found a video of it

Mat Collishaw's 'Seria Ludo' at...

 

I can see why you would be distracted watching that !

 

So, I was reading at one time a lot about light therapy. From all I read it seemed to be a pretty interesting and also to a point effective treatment option for tinnitus.

Recently, I have not come across too much information about this.

What happened to light therapy? Is it called something else now? Did they prove it was not effective after all?

 

I just saw this. Maybe it is something that has not been posted on here before. https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-mail/20170207/282368334383618

 

OK. So to get rid of Tinnitus, you have to spend your whole life watching coloured lenses. It seems to be a little bit boring. It also prevents us from doing anything.

 

OK. In order to be more constructive, I did a search and found that this link was not published :
https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02772536
So dear UK folks, if you are interested, this study is currently recruiting.