Massive Improvement in Tinnitus Using Dr. Wilden's Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT)

Yvonne09

Member
Author
Nov 11, 2016
7
Tinnitus Since
02/2016
Cause of Tinnitus
Unknown
I would like to share my experience fighting tinnitus.

I have steady improvement in tinnitus so I though that my story may help some people suffering from this horrible disease.

My tinnitus started at the beginning of this year (2016) around February. In January I suffered from light sinus inflammation (after being exposed to air conditioner). The inflammation has gone away quickly but it has "triggered something" in my body. Before this occurred, I have had, for few years already, a strange pressure in my ears. When I had cough colds it had gone away quickly but this pressure resisted for long time. No medications had helped although I used to take tones of Ibuprofen, antibiotics, etc. I had also had impression that I cannot understand/hear conversation as well as I used to (I`m 38 years old), but I though this was only an impression. Anyway, at the beginning of this year my ears have just got crazy.

Since January I had more and more noise and terrible hyperacusis (noise sensitivity). I also started to have headaches. By February I was confused, I did not know what was happening to me.

I did, like most of you, all the exams: MRI, CT, Doppler, etc. I saw ENTs, audiologist, neurologist, osteopath, therapist, dentist, acupuncturist – you name it.. They found nothing. By March the noise became so bad that I was suicidal. Literally, I started to write my will (not that I have too much left :) ).

By April I was unable to work, unable to think, to concentrate. I stopped working, going out, doing sport. At the age of 38 I spent most of my time in bed crying. I went out only to see doctors. The noise in my head was unsupportable. By that time I have already learnt what the T is and that it`s incurable. While awaiting the results of medical exams, I prayed that I have cancer or anything for what I can be given any medication, any relief. My boyfriend was horrified, my friends were worried. I started to talk about suicide. At that time, after months of suffering this horrible noise I could not see the way to live with this.

My T was very deep, aggressive buzzing, overwhelming, profound, loud, in the head, non stop 24/7.. I also had acute hyperacusis. I could not even stand people talking. I could not stand white noise. I also had the pressure in both ears. Here are the things I tried during first three months:


-hyperbaric oxygen therapy – I took 24 sessions of 1h. Apparently it helps you only at the very early stage of T, up to three months. All I can say about it is that the first few sessions of HB "took the edge of T`s aggressiveness" . T was just a little less aggressive, but it will probably not cure your T.

-ginkgo biloba, vit. B12, vit.B complex, antistress supplements, muscle relaxant, some anti-inflammatory medications from ENT – It can have some benefits (relaxing), but it won`t really improve T.

- antidepressant – in my case it was Prozac – I do recommend it if you feel very depressed. I started to take Prozac in April. It definitely helped me to get through this very difficult period. I stopped taking Prozac few weeks ago (November).

-acupuncture – does not work

-ear coning – stay away! It`s dangerous

-osteopath, therapist – might work in some type of T I suppose, when the origin of T is connected to the TMJ, jaw alignment, etc. It did not help me much

-audiologist – after having done hearing test he told me that I have slight hearing loss (up to 30dB), just above the normal range (20dB) on the frequencies up to 6KHz. After 6KHz the curve started to drop sharply downwards (up to 45dB). The hearing test done at this time was only up to 8KHz so I could not clearly see the extend of the hearing damage on high frequencies. But I started to understand that my T comes from the hearing loss on high frequencies.The audiologist had no answer or treatment for me. He mentioned something about hearing aids if it gets worse.. Well, for me this is not the answer.

and finally...

-LOW LEVEL LASER THERAPY – I first read about Dr. Wilden`s treatment with LLLT here on this forum. What I read made sense to me and was the only and last hope. I ordered Lux Spa Home Laser – a laser device designed to be used long term at home. I received my home laser within few days and I started my treatment immediately. It was end of June. Based on what I had read I was prepared for 2-3 years treatment. I was prepared that the noice can spike before it gets better. The noise spiked a little indeed already in the first days I used laser. But also, and THE MOST IMPORTANT, it was different. The noise from very deep and aggressive in few days became "THINNER AND FLATTER". This, for me, has changed everything! This kind of noise was at least bearable! Also, I started to hear noise more in the ears and less in the whole head, which is much worse. The laser session itself is very pleasant and relaxing.

I had very rapid improvement in July. Incredibly I even had some silent days. My hyperacusis has been reduced by 90% very quickly, the pressure in the ears has improved very rapidly as well. I would say they both stayed at this level (90%) until today. The massive improvement in hearing deep tones are consistent with the explanation of Dr.Wilden, who says that lower tones hearing cells regenerate first and quite rapidly. Higher tones hearing cells take much more time to regenerate. This is exactly what is happening to me. My T became higher, quieter with few spiking periods.

In August I have done hearing test up to 12KHz. The hearing curve drops sharply at 6KHz to as low as 50db at 12KHz. This is my hearing loss. The hearing loss in the left ear is slightly worst then in the right one. And my T is indeed worst in my left ear.

After fairly quiet July, my T spiked again in August. I went to Ibiza for 10 days LLLT treatment at Dr.Wilden`s office. Dr. Wilden confirmed my hearing loss on high frequencies. According to Dr.Wilden the hearing ears are exhausted from every day noise and T is the symptom of this. The hearing cells then need biological regeneration which LLLT can provide without any side effects.

After 10 days of treatment my T and my hearing has improved. The hearing test showed the improvement. My hearing up to 6KHz did not drop below 15db (before:up to 30db). And above 6KHz: Right ear: was 45KHz, now 25KHz. Left ear: was: 50KHz, now 40KHz. I now have T mostly in my left ear.

I have been reading many stories here on the forum and I read blog of Hansi Cross who has been fighting T using LLLT as well with good results. I mentioned him, because he described the treatment process very well and with details. I have very similar experience and find it a very good source of information for those who want to know more about the treatment process.

I have been using Dr.Wilden`s home laser for five months now, everyday for 30-45min. My T massively improved. I am able to lead, more or less, normal life. I can work, I can think. I have better days and worse days. But I never have horrible days any more. Sometimes I have silent days. The noise is thinner and thinner. Still tiring but not aggressive any more. The battle is not over, T has not yet disappeared completely and it still disturbs me. But from my perspective, ANY, but ANY relief from suffering from T is welcomed and I am really grateful that I found Dr.Wilden`s laser therapy and I appreciate his relentless effort to spread the knowledge about improving T and hearing.
 
Congratulations!!! I can copy and paste this and say that it was exactly what happened to me. I can picture myself 100% almost 3 years ago just reading this. How do I know the prices for this product?
 
Thank you for your message and congratulations!

Unfortunately, I'm always a little bit weary of success stories attributed to a particular product or service recommend by a poster with only 1 message on these forums :)
 
Yes... Fantastic story if true. Unfortunately, LLLT has not been described as a miracle by a lot of people... It's still worth a try though.
 
Thank you for your comments. I understand that it is difficult nowdays to recognize what is the real story and what is the publicity. I guess everyone has to judge for themselves.

Having said this I would like to respond (not sure how should I tag people, I`ll try with @..):

@ Pleasure_Paulie, @Tom Cnyc. Regarding me being 1 message poster. Although I found this forum few months ago, I didn`t post anything indeed. What I did is: I read lots of information about treatments described here, I tried some of them (I listed it in my post) and then I wrote my conclusion in one post. I prefer this way rather then to write hundred messages. Regarding "recommending particular product or service" I just cannot see other way to describe my experience. Should I have written that I liked "product X by Dr.X" and guess for yourselves what do I mean? :) I tried to write my experience as objectively, sensibly and detailed as I can. Also, I wanted to write only about the products/therapies that I tested myself. I can see a lot of people writing that this or that does not work without ever trying it. Also what works for one person may not work for another.

@Foncky – I don`t think LLLT is a miracle product and I did not write it my post. T is still there. However it DID help, especially because it made the noise of my T much "thinner". It is also higher and much more quiet. As I wrote I have good days and bad days, but, in general, it provided me with enormous relief, ended the "horrible days" and I think it its going in the right direction since it`s getting higher . I think my experience is consistent with other people experience from what I read in this forum. If T ever is cured 100%, I will write it in here and will describe LLLT as a miraculous product :) But it does not change the fact that it did help me a lot and, I do hope it would relieve other people`s suffering too.

@Rog- I hope your T is getting better and better. Is there anything that has helped you in particular? I guess you can find all the information re-LLLT at Dr.Wilden`s website.

Apart from that, I wanted to share my observation about this standard mantra repeated everywhere: "if it worked, everyone would know about it". Although it sounds so obvious, I`m not so sure any more. Since I started to do my research (I talked with several medical practicioners of conventional and alternative medicine) I started to be wary of such simplyfying and generalising. This will be totally out of subject of T, but I watched recently the documentary about cancer researcher Dr.Burzynski, who invented and developed medication therapy against cancer (in the USA) that had great results and had no side effects like chemio/radiotherapy. American medical authorities, instead of embracing it or, at least, giving it a try, had been fighting this doctor for decades trying to put the end to his research and to put him in prison even though they recognised that his therapy works. Why? Perhaps because cancer is quite a big buisness and it might hurt lots of big companies. I`m not into conspiracy theory at all :) and maybe American members of this forum knows the other side of this story, it just made me wary when it comes to researches, studies, etc. People, whom I know (personally or not), who had cancers (some of them died), had never heard abouth this therapy, their doctors neither. Even if only half of this documentary is true, it made me think, really, if there was something that helps (I don`t dare to write "cure") would we really know it? Would it actually be "mainstream"? Unless, of course, there was a pill that you can pop in and the T would be gone, then yes, probably it would :)
 
@Yvonne09

thanks for the reply. believe me - we'd rather you be real. I am curious about one thing - did the in office visits produce different results than the home device? if so - how?
 
@Tom Cnyc – Thanks. I`d prefer to say the T is 100% gone :) but, still, it did made difference.

For me, the home device was better. Perhaps because I started to use it first, I don`t know. It produced the effect quite quickly. I would say that the results after in office visit (1,5 months after I started to use home device) were less noticeable/spectacular. Also, few weeks ago, there was period when my T spiked and went a tone deeper/louder. I started to use the device twice a day and, after around 7-10 days, the T started to be even higher then before the spike. When I have bad day, I use it during the day (normally I use in the evening) and the T becomes thinner again. All the same, I plan to make periodically in office visits, where the laser is stronger, as I look at it as long term treatment.
 
If it's a shameless plug, it is well disguised!
I actually believe the OP. It's not the first account of LLLT helping (there are studies that show that it has a positive effect in some cases). The key is to understand why it helped: what was broken and what was the mechanism that led to the improvement. That would help us figure out when it's an appropriate treatment.

On the other hand, aside from $$, there doesn't seem to be a very high amount of risk, so it may be something worth trying anyways.
 
Yes, believe us, we are happy if your story is true, and that seems to be the case.

Would you recommend the Lucky Laser (if you happen to know it) ? Cheaper than Wilden's.
 
I have this same exact story in success stories.... I thought that Yvonne09 was plagiarizing me. Did not go to Ibiza yet though, but great improvement w the home laser... yet buzz still there, though softer, thinner, flatter.

Bearable vs unbearable at least! Big difference!

Thanks for sharing so clearly, Yvonne09!

Maybe if we get quite a few telling this same story we can get impetus to have this machine made for a reasonable price here in the USA and everyone with tinnitus can immediately have access to it.... vs all this monkey business of trying to find a guy in Ibiza Spain and paying him $3100 for this little machine!

So many vets come home with tinnitus...a #1 vet disability...yet they don't know how to get some help. This machine needs to be given to each one of them, for starts.
 
@mandi – you put it perfectly – it`s bearable vs. unbearable and it`s big difference

@Foncky – I cannot speak for another types of laser as I never used them. I don`t know much about technical parameters either

@GregCA – indeed it looks like the most important thing is to determine the cause of T in each case. This seems to be not always that easy though. For the first few months after my T started I visited all kinds of doctors/therapies – it was quite chaotic. One just doesn`t know where to look for help. Fortunately in this instance internet, and forums like this one, helps. Then I discovered that I have slight hearing loss (quite significant on higher frequencies) which was like a shock to me. I cannot recall being to any loud events (for the past 10 years at least). There`s no one in my family who has T. So Dr.Wilden`s theory that the hearing loss (and T as a symptom of this) comes from the exhaustion of hearing cells due to daily noise seems convincing. I just cannot find any other reason. Therefore biological regeneration of hearing cells with LLLT (and protection of ears from daily noise) seems to be proper treatment.

While trying to find the reason behind my T and hearing loss, I also found this information about Ibuprofen, that apparently one of the adverse side effects of taking it is hearing loss and T. Since, during all these years, I used to take a lot of it for everything: pains, colds, etc, perhaps this could have contributed to my hearing loss and T. But that I will probably never know.
 
I am tempted , 2660 euros plus 24% VAT ...very expensive.
He must have insane margins on that , him being so greedy actually makes me suspicious of the product.
 
@RaZaH – it`s clear it`s not as cheap as we all would like to, so the question if it`s worth it is quite individual. Personally I would sale my soul to get any relief :)

In defense of Dr.Wilden I have to mention part of our conversation when I was doing treatment in Ibiza. I was thinking about coming back to Ibiza again in few months in order to speed up the healing process. Dr.Wilden said that it`s not necessary, that I can just continue treatment with my home device. I think it was quite fair on his part to say it. Still, I want to "push it" so I plan to go to Ibiza for another treatment session anyway.

I will update the results, and this post, again in few months time. I don`t expect my T to change much in short time period. I will continue my home laser treatment and will want to do the in office treatment again. Hope I will have some (good) news some time next year. Fingers crossed.
 
I am tempted , 2660 euros plus 24% VAT ...very expensive.
He must have insane margins on that , him being so greedy actually makes me suspicious of the product.

Not cheap..... I've probably spent twice as much so far looking for relief, so if there was any proof this laser works it really is nothing compared to getting your life back.
But that's our luck..... Nothing proven when it comes to tinnitus crap!
 
Can someone expand on this Doctor and his product/ methods? Where he is at? Does this product help with high frequency T? Is it supposed to only work with newly acquired T?
Thanks!
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but LLLT is unlikely to work for people who got T from antidepressants use because the damage are in the brain not the inner ear.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but LLLT is unlikely to work for people who got T from antidepressants use because the damage are in the brain not the inner ear.

Is there a test you can run to determine where the damage is? I'm asking because the doctors I've talked to tell me no, and you seem to know something about it.
 
Is there a test you can run to determine where the damage is? I'm asking because the doctors I've talked to tell me no, and you seem to know something about it.
I don't know but antidepressants works on the brain so that's why I would assume it doesn't break the inner ear. Same for stress induced tinnitus. But yeah I'm not a doctor :)
 
I don't know but antidepressants works on the brain so that's why I would assume it doesn't break the inner ear.

Ah... but systemic drugs get into many places in the body. That's why a lot of drugs can be ototoxic even though they aren't specifically targeted at the ear, but end up damaging it collaterally.
 
Just had my 6 month audiogram since using Dr. Wilden's laser. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any real improvement. I'll be sending him a message to see what he has to say about this. In the meantime, I will still continue to use the laser. I hope that my results (or lack thereof) can help people decide if laser treatment is for them. I'm a bit down...but I am not out. Let's see what Dr. Wilden has to say.
 

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@Martin Sion – I`d prefer you read my post carefuly before commenting it.

As to if it´s fake or not, I`ve already mentioned it earlier, everyone can judge for themselves.



Anyway, I promised to update after few months of continuing of using laser. End of June marked one year since I have used it. Before starting using laser my T was a deep, aggressive, loud "shshsh" tone and I was suicidal. During past year I went three times to Ibiza for treatment with Dr.Wilden – in total 20 treatments of one hour. I use home device laser everyday for at least 30min. On top of it I use a laser in my local physiotherapy clinic-it`s a strong (I think 5kHz) therapeutic laser they use for injuries , not for T. I use it at my own risk few times per week for 1,5min each ear (Dr.Wilden wasn`t thrilled when I mentioned it , he said to be careful with lasers we don`t know what their wave length is, etc.). I also avoid any noise and wear earplugs often.

After one year I reconfirm that it has helped me. I´m at the stage now when I almost don`t hear T during the day. I hear it mostly before going to sleep. The tone is soft and it seems to me that it gets higher and higher. I don`t really have bad days. I remarked the spike in T several times after visits in Ibiza and also when I did a lot of therapeutic laser, like several days in a row. The spike lasts two weeks at the longest. T gets temporarly louder also when I`m ocasionally exposed to the noise.

I initially planned to do this program for around three years and I stick to it. I think it´s unrealistick to expect immediate results. From the other side, I don`t think there`s better/safer option out there to get a relief from T.

Feel free to ask questions.

@briano – how`s your treatment going on? I know that your goal was mainly to improve your hearing. How about T?
 
Just out of curiosity did Wilden perform BOTH hearing tests? Before and after treatment.

If yes then it's worth zero.

This charlatan had to leave germany and head to ibiza because he was under pressure from the medical community in germany because of his questionable treatment.
 
Yes, he performed my hearing test, I don`t know if it`s worthless or not. Other audiologist performed the hearing test before starting laser, it showed hearing loss, but smaller then the one from Dr.W. but it was only up to 8kHz, while aparently the hearing loss was much deeper in higher frequencies.
I don`t know the story behind Dr.Wilden`s move to Ibiza. Regarding so called medical community- they are not always a reference for me personally, especially if they do not provide answers. There are plenty of doctors out there who get punished for thinking outside the box. Anyway, there is another thread here discussing Dr.Wilden. I`m describing my personal experience with laser. All I care is to get a relieve from T - so far laser alleviated it, while nothing else touched it. Why would you call it questionable? Have you tried it long term with no result? When T is agressive and loud ANY relief is welcomed.
 
I started LLLT less than 3 months into my trauma. I'm currently using a konftec 660nm and 820nm device and following Dr. Michael Zazzio's suggested protocol. Honestly, since starting I've noticed slow improvements in dysacusis and the pitch of my tinnitus started getting higher and quieter. It's not a complete cure but it has helped a lot.
 

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