DIY Low-Level Laser Therapy for Tinnitus on a Budget — LLLT Under 100,-

If you are trying out the iLauke IR flash light, the 14500 batteries give it a lot more power. The whole flashlight casing gets warm. I purchased the following regular flashlight w/ batteries for $9.99 US that turned out to be the exact same flashlight housing with a regular visible light led (at least I will have one usable flashlight at the end of this experiment, I love flashlights . ) It gives a rough idea of the beam focus since you can see it plus the rechargeable Li batteries/charger. However it is a single led vs what appears to be 4 IR, so the focus may be bit different, hard to tell since I don't have night vision gear.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VY795ZO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Will do my second session tonight. I'll try the narrow beam, 8min/ear.

 

How long/often are you using the ilauke with these batteries?

 

Be careful not to make these batteries explode next to your ear

Seriously, don't buy shitty units (I don't know about these). Take some Panasonic or Samsung which have a protection board inside. And a good charger. There is a lot of power to handle in these batteries.

 

Do you have a link to ones that would be safe to use? Didn't you say the special batteries you got didn't work with the ilauke?

 

No I just use 1.5v AA for now. So not powerful enough I think to have a benefit.

I would believe units like that are ok (look at the "protected" mention) : https://eu.nkon.nl/review/product/list/id/1652/category/25/

 

Ah, I looked back, it was @Bobby B who tried some rechargeable higher power batteries that did not work.

@Foncky So you don't think the AA battery in ilauke is powerful enough even at longer usage lengths? I guess we still don't have an accurate way of knowing what it is outputting in terms of light power that can be used in the calculations on red light man site dosage guide? To determine how long to use it?

@WildMan mentioned spikes from the ilauke, and he is just using AA. If I recall correctly he mentioned that he never has had spikes of a similar nature except when using the torch. That would be indication it is doing something.

I haven't noticed anything at all though.

 

Well they are not the best batteries, they don't last too long. Maybe 20 minutes., but both flashlights are designed to use either AA or 14500, the later recommended for its intended purpose. If it's dropping down shortly after turning on, the battery is probably low or defective and the light is dropping to its low power mode. I have other tactical flashlights that will do that.

@SilverSpiral
I have only had it for a day, but I starting with 5 minutes in the morning and 5 at night.

 

are you doing it every day? what about what fonkcy said, are you worried about the batteries exploding?

 

That's my plan at this point, only one day in... I'm still digesting all the information (about lllt) and I find doing something helps me understand things a bit more.

I figure I will try it on some aches and pains too and see what happens. Not that using this device is definitive in any way. Its a cheap experiment.

 

Ok so I did another 5 mins on each ear using the torch yesterday afternoon (AA batteries with narrow beam this time). Last night I started to get a spike again in tinnitus loudness and maybe a little uncomfortable feeling in my ear with more hyperacusis. It woke me during the night and is the same this morning. I am not sure if this is good or bad, I hope it's good! Does anyone have any links to threads where people stated a worsening in their symptoms from LLLT before things got better? What is the logic in the tinnitus getting worse before better?

 

I did my second session too, 7min/ear. Did not feel anything, bad or good.

I slept well and this morning T is a little less intrusive than it was yesterday morning, but I can only guess it has nothing to do with LLLT. It's still loud as f%*$.

I don't know, we really need to measure the power.

What power would be ideal ? 200mw/cm2 at 5 cm ? Do we even have a clue about how to determine that ?

I might know someone who could help with that and try a 3.7v battery.

Don't worry too much about batteries : I'm just saying that buying cheap units is not a good idea. Good batteries (protected) will last longer and be safer. A good charger is required.

It can explode if over charged or over discharged, hence the need for a good charger and a protection board.

But again don't worry, batteries that can explode are everywhere : phones, computers...

 

When I started I got T spikes that woke me up at night but at the same time H went down and especially sound quality improved

Don't monitor T that much , it will go up and down but eventually settle down to normal levels after some time .if t improves it may take a year or more, but most likely it's not going to change overall in a short time

You should monitor sound quality instead - listen to good quality music and try to notice when it's crisper , with better bass and smoother to the ear using the same music everyday . This should not take too long to notice provided you get improvements .

 

My theory is as the brain gets better sound input , H goes down , and T becomes more piercing for a while as the brain focuses more on the lost sound .

For me music sounded better and better over the months like I was upgrading to better speakers every now and then

 

I need your input on the best output power guys. I'm working on something.

 

Guys, is this the flashlight you were talking about: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ilauke-Inf...01DZW5I10/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 ?

It's not available anymore

 

you will find similar products using the same small diameter lens and casing - on 850 or 940nm at 5w if you do a search for

Infrared Flashlight

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Torch-Infr...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0ET740X75SZ7NZQGRBSX

This has only 3 chips but not sure it's relevant.

 

I think it shouldn't change anything.

So the procedure is: but the flashlight, AA batteries, put it in your ear for X minutes every day?

Is some eye protection required?

 

Bobby suggested twice a week, so I do that, not everyday. We don't know the output power of the IR flashlight so it's hard to dose.

But yes that's the idea.

I protect my eyes because I'm a little bit paranoid about that. I use swimming goggles covered with several layers of black gorilla tape... Cheap and reliable.

 

@SilverSpiral
No I'm not really worried about that. The charger, though cheap appears to pulse charge the batteries. The led flashes red / green until it is charged. The battery does not even get warm while charging. Note the IR version does not come with 14500 batteries, but plain flashlight version I linked above does and can be used with the IR. aThe flashlight gets warm but not anything crazy. Plus it is in a metal enclosure (the flashlight housing).

@maltese
It does look like Amazon is out of stock at the moment for that particular model.

 

Do you think I should wait? Or buy the one I linked to and start the 'treatment' asap?

 

Plenty of interesting lights on this site : http://www.lightmalls.com/infrared-flashlight

But I don't know if this site is trustworthy at all.

 

The one I have is similar to Ilauke one but has 3 LEDs and is 3W, it's still available on Amazon.fr
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/aw/d/B016Z...infrarouge&dpPl=1&dpID=41w8Yf9MICL&ref=plSrch

 

I have terrible fullness in my ears most of the time. Will the LLLT help with this?

 

Possibly, especially if the fullness is caused by any sort of inflammation. I'm not sure if the lights we are using is effective LLLT though at this point, especially about how much light actually is getting to the middle/inner ear. Or what strength light the flashlights are outputting with AA battery in the first place.

 

Thanks @SilverSpiral, I'm fairly sure it must be chronic inflammation. I got it the day after my acoustic trauma and it's been with me ever since, in a greater or lesser degree.

I've done LLLT twice this week with the torch, and it's definitely doing something as my tinnitus is spiking, and also I have a new tinnitus noise in one ear, don't know if it's related though. I hope that this is a good sign, in the long run. It'd be great though if someone had the means to test the output on the torch.

 

How long are you doing? Wow you and wildman both notice profound spikes. I do up to 20 mins per ear and notice nothing...

 

@SilverSpiral I've only done 5 minutes on each ear, then 7 minutes on each. First time I used the wide beam and second time I used the narrow beam. I'm not sure but I think I might stay with the wide beam. My next session will be Mon.

 

If the 14500 batteries run this thing at 5W, I calculated 1600 mW/cm2. Probably high for two 5 minute sessions per day, as evidenced by some raw outer ears . My calculations are based on the light cone at the exit of the flashlight being approximately 19.5mm in diameter.

5000mW / 3cm2 = 1600mW/cm2

Regular batteries may be the way to go to bring the output down.