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Ear health in older age - red light therapy

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Hi all,

I’m new to the Forum.

I’m approaching 73 years old. Back in 1969 I lost my hearing entirely after I was knocked off my bike by a car. A fractured skull had also severed the auditory nerve. So I’ve been used to being totally deaf in one ear since that time.

About five years ago, knowing that my hearing had deteriorated slightly, a hearing test showed that I would benefit from a hearing aid for my good ear. It has helped during the time since then, but now I’m at a point where I believe things are deteriorating further. The main problem is with lack of clarity rather than loudness.

I’m going for a hearing test next week. I use a Benafon aid and a couple of years ago I was also given an NHS aid (which seems just as good as the more expensive aid).

To cut this long story short, I’ve been studying the main reasons why hearing declines with age and it’s usually related to the cilia in the cochclear gradually becoming less effective and eventually dying off.

Recently I became aware of red light therapy in the context of improving hearing loss and have looked at a couple of scientific research papers which suggest it could help improve the health of the ear apparatus, including the cochlear, but that further research is needed.

Consequently I have seen products available in the market that are specifically aimed at hearing loss.

Has anyone come across these and in particular has anybody tried one of them? If so, do you have and feedback.

Thanks

3 people in this conversation2 min readJump to latest

Thanks for this interesting topic. It looks like there is no experimental support for such therapies in the literature, so I doubt anecdotal evidence here is going to help you any further. What is needed are solid, randomized double-blind clinical studies. While these are fairly easy to set up in this case, they still cost money. The problem here is that you probably cannot patent red laser light for such uses, so “Big (let alone small) Pharma” isn’t going to pay for this. The same problem often exists when people consider to repurpose old (off-patent) medicines for new diseases. Another case for me to advocate to make drug (device) discovery a public undertaking…

In reply to @RobHooft

There are quite a few science research projects e.g Effects of Red and Infrared Laser Therapy in Patients with Tinnitus: A Double-Blind, Clinical, Randomized Controlled Study Combining Light with Ultrasound, Drugs and Vacuum Therapy - PMC76 and The Effect of Low-Level Laser Therapy on Hearing - PMC46 .

A number of companies are now selling red light therapy products for hearing loss (even on Amazon) based on this limited research. I just wondered if anyone had actually ever tried it.

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