• Ahmadreza Okhovat, Nezamoddin Berjis, Hoda Okhovat, Afsaneh Malekpour, and Hamidreza Abtahi.
• Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Science, Isfahan, Iran.
• J Res Med Sci. 2011 Jan 1; 16 (1): 333833-8.

BackgroundDespite the high prevalence and morbidity, tinnitus still remains an obscure symptom. We assessed the efficacy of low-level laser for treatment of tinnitus.MethodsIt was a self controlled clinical trial study on 61 outpatients with subjective tinnitus. The patients were irradiated with a 650-nm, 5-mW soft laser for twenty days and twenty minutes per day. The sensation of tinnitus was measured on a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) before and two weeks after treatment and they were compared by means of Wilcoxon signed ranktest.ResultsThirty-eight (62.3%) patients were men and twenty-three (37.7%) were women. Fourteen patients (31.8%) worked in noisy environment. The VAS mean difference before and after the treatment was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). The best treatment effect was in the youngest group and there were significant differences between this group and the middle age and older groups (p = 0.018 and 0.001, respectively). The mean VAS score reduction was not statistically significant between male and female patients (p = 0.23). Also, the treatment outcome according to the noise level in patient's workplaces was not significantly different in women (p = 0.693), but it was significant in men (p = 0.029).ConclusionsTransmeatal low-level laser irradiation is effective for the treatment of tinnitus and some variables like age and job can affect the treatment outcome.

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