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

this is not optical power - its only the power drawn by the LED , if the efficiency is 25%then the optical power in w/c2 is far less which may be the case here

 

@stargazer

What is required is a solar power meter to test the power of the light output. Something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L7OR9J8/

 

Lol, I just ordered one. Regardless it did fry my ears a bit. Like mild sunburn on the second day.

 

Ok, so I just woke up and am in a totally silent bedroom...my ears still feel full but my tinnitus is definitely less intrusive. Let's hope that the flashlight is doing something good. If we can work out how much power it's putting out and therefore how much dosage is needed I think this could be a real LLLT contender! I'll keep you all informed of my progress. BTW I'm using earplugs to protect my ears from loud noises whilst doing the treatment.

 

Here is another version in red for $9. It uses a red Cree xp-e which is 630nm.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0136RV4YY

It can double as a red light for astronomy.

 

Does anyone know of a decent online hearing test to gauge hearing improvement by. My last audiogram was over 7 months ago.

 

Mimi Hearing Test is great.

However they just released a new version this week and some people are finding it buggy.

https://mimi.io/en/health/

 

I'm not directly looking at the light. I'm tilting it just barely enough to glance at it from off angle to the side.


I try to get the lens hood and push the tragus out of the way, and then tilt the light inward and upward. (Trying to aim for my Cochlear area). I've also tried it without that method and just holding it in a similar way just floating instead.
Sometimes I move it around and it's not a 100% static angle. I always end up readjusting as the lens hood is quite irritating to the skin.
http://u.cubeupload.com/MrBonk/IMG20170304010529c.jpg
(Using the default length too, which gives a wider beam)

Sometimes, while i'm doing it I feel as though I can feel the light hitting in my ear and there is some resulting physical sensation from the heat/light. Tonight, I think I felt slightly light headed after wards, though I think that might be placebo from something else.

The most accurate would be using an actual tone generator IMO.
Like using the evaluation version of Reaper along with MDA TestTone.
http://mda.smartelectronix.com/

It does require knowledge on how to use a DAW a little bit though and how to use MDATT's interface. (Pretty simple slider layout. )

Once it's inserted on a track, you turn it to sine wave mode. (I would turn the volume waaaaaay down to start with though. Get to the point where you can hear it the clearest you can at the lowest possible volume.)
Then use F1 to set the frequency and F2 to fine tune the frequency more.
Documentation http://mda.smartelectronix.com/

Of course the real issue with this is, that very few if any consumer grade reproduction equipment has a flat playback response. Which means you will not get Audiogram accurate results. Headphones will often have driver mismatch between each speaker. Resulting in slightly different frequency response. This can happen with monitors/speakers too to some degree.

One pair of my cans has some pretty noticeable and significant differences between the R/L driver that I measured with my Sound Meter. That matches what i've been able to detect by ear as well.(In combination with the 3-5dB of asymmetry at several frequencies in my right ear. Some that just so happened to match some of the asymmetric differences. Like 6.3Khz. Left driver is 2+dbA higher than right driver. And I have a few dB less compared to my left ear there. Which just makes it slightly worse. )

One solution to throw that variance out the window is to pan the signal to one side only. And only use that one speaker/headphone to test both ears.

You can buy headphones used in Audiology though that are as flat and closely matched as possible.
Ex: https://en-us.sennheiser.com/audiometry

With those, and some graphing software, a sound meter, a DAW and the above Tone generator. You could potentially replace an Audiogram.

 

I have three problems with this torchlight :
- we don't know the optical power
- you're never sure it's on or off. The orange button is loose when off, but it's very subtle...
- you never know when AA batteries are running out of power...

We need something :
- with a straightforward on/off switch (or a green LED when it's on)
- with rechargeable batteries : you use fully charged batteries (like 14500) at each session

 

I read with interest your post but it all sounds very technical to me, I really need a straightforward online audiogram that can give reasonably accurate results. I'd be interested to know the results you'd get from your method though.

@Foncky I find that turning on the torch in a very dark room you can see the beam (I hold it against my hand when I turn it on). I agree that we don't really know the output though, especially how quickly the batteries lose their charge (like how many minutes we can do with a fresh AA battery, or fully charged 14500 battery). I've only used AA as my torch is only 3W and I'm not sure if I should use the 14500 battery.

Well my respite was a little short lived, fullness is back and tinnitus is loud again. Maybe 2 sessions a week is not enough?

 

Don't monitor your T too much and don't test your hearing for now.

Is it safe to see the beam with no eye protection ? (if you don't look directly at the LEDs of course)

With a battery, you don't care about the discharge rate. You just fully charge it before your session and you know you're fine.

 

Thanks @Foncky for the input, are you using AA batteries too? When I look at the light I have the beam facing the palm if my hand, about a few centimeters away. I'm not actually looking at the LEDs, just the glow that appears on my hand. I'm supposing that's ok?! I just listened to 'let it go' song from frozen with my daughter (at a really low level) and my T is going crazy!!! This is how sh#t things get with T...and she asks why mummy doesn't want to to listen :-(

 

Yes AA.

I don't see how it could be dangerous to look at the subtle glow on your hand. But I just prefer not to switch the light on at all when I don't wear my goggles. I'm dumb enough to forget about the danger and stare into it for a second.

I think it's really too early for you to monitor the effects the torchlight could have.

Let's do our sessions and not think too much about it. I had a fairly good day yesterday, bad one today, it's so random.

It's good if you can spend quality time with your daughter (apart from this song) !

 

Wouldn't general welder's eyewear help with the eye burning concerns? https://www.fullsource.com/pyramex-wg100/?gclid=CJ2PttrWvdICFQm5wAodNLsPwQ

 

Eye protection is specific to the wavelength of the light. For example, something that protects from red light may not protect from infrared light. And vice-versa. I do not know what wavelengths of light welder's eyewear is designed to protect against.

However, on Amazon you can purchase safety goggles designed for the specific wavelength of your LLLT device. Here is one example of goggles designed to protect from infrared light:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VA7JOHW/

 

There are certain welder's eyewear that are strong enough to where a person could look at the sun during a solar eclipse, such as the full one appearing in Eastern USA in August. I forgot which ones, however. I would have thought that if something was strong enough to shield that, it would be able to shield infrared too. Oh well.

 

I don't know much about it, but there is a thread about welder goggles on the Laser Pointer Forums site, here is the first of several posts:

"Your not going to find much info on welding goggles, their designed to absorb all wavelengths, ie the black tint. Black tinted goggles will block lots of light, that will make your eyes dilate, this means your pupils will enlarge to absorb more light, the bad thing is, you don't want your eyes to absorb more light. That's why you should get glasses that only block IR."

http://laserpointerforums.com/f53/welding-goggles-ir-38603.html

The way I interpret, probably better to buy goggles specifically designed to protect you from the wavelength of your LLLT device, rather than take a chance.

 

guys, just use the simple cheap black eye masks used in planes etc... those are opaques so they cut light. you don't need to see anything while you do it , we don't operate machinery or weld stuff

 

Ilauke is OOS now.

Found this too, says 1 watt optical power
https://www.amazon.com/Evolva-Futur...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=94G0STRPXM7S1AQNQ325

Is that a lot or?

 

What is OSS?

 

I get bored easily lol.

 

This is only 1 w and the lense is large Too large to concentrate enough power at the desired spot

 

The ilauke with an AA isn't much more than 1W is it? But i dunno what it's lens is compared to what you guys are talking about...
foncky and blue are using the ilauke with a single AA with wide lens mode, so how much power are they getting? but i think blue mentioned getting certain spikes...

 

Yep I can confirm, I have definitely had spikes this last week. I'm doing another session today with the torch so will keep you all informed.

 

I've used it upward of 20mins without spikes, however, i have experienced one spike lately, but since it's the first i've started using so, im unsure if its related to LLLLLLLTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

 

Third session today :
2 x 5 min/ear
IR 850 torchlight 3W
Narrow beam against the ear
AA 1.5v
Eyes protection

Nothing special to report.
Edit : T is crazy right now but not sure it's LLLT related

 

Anybody using regular AA batteries know about how long we can use the light before we should change the battery? Any guesses?

 

So I've done three sessions now with the torch and have noticed that my tinnitus has been fluctuating more than usual. I'm only doing 5 mins on each ear, today (didn't get a chance yesterday) I used the wide beam. Do I dare increase the time on each ear? What sort of changes/improvents, dare I say it, should I watch out for? I'm expecting I need to do at least 20 sessions before I can see a difference?

 

I don't know if anybody can really give you a direct, or even indirect answer. Bobby B says this LLLT may not be very effective for chronic T, and that whatever improvements are to be had may take years... and afaik he is mainly gathering this from Zazzio/Wilden protocols, which of course, do not use this device, but their own different devices. As far as the time, and what you can expect, again, we really aren't sure this light has any efficacy, but you are reporting spikes with just 5mins, whereas others can do ~30mins to no effect...not sure what to make of it. Hope others can weigh in on this, or provide you with some better insight.

 

I received my power meter and took some readings. The meter went out of range (40mW/cm2 max) with the IR and Red light flush. So I used the following procedure to estimate it:
1. I took a reading that was in range.
2. Measured the projected circle (engineering paper came in handy for this).
3. Used the above to calculate the total light energy coming from the flashlight.
4. Extrapolated to a 2cm circle (flashlight flush).

I have uploaded a spreadsheet, but here is the summary:
14500 Battery
Focuser forward by 5mm

IR 124 mW/cm2

Red
High 170 mW/cm2
Flash 90 mW/cm2
Low 60 mW/cm2

Do not take these measurements as precise, but they should be in the ballpark.