Background: Scuba diving has become a popular hobby. However, diving puts the auditory system at the risk of a
wide variety of complaints including tinnitus. Low-level laser therapy is a new modality in treatment of tinnitus. This
study evaluates efect of laser therapy on tinnitus of scuba divers in Red Sea. This randomized study included 200
scuba diving patients with tinnitus without any other audiological symptoms. They were randomly divided into two
groups: GI (n=100) patients were subjected to 60 sessions of laser therapy, and in the other group GII (n=100), the
machine was of while doing the procedure. The Tinnitus Questionnaire (TQ) was done every 20 days to evaluate the
severity of the tinnitus for both groups.
Results: Both groups were matched regarding age and sex distribution. GI group experienced signifcantly
decreased tinnitus severity compared to GII after laser therapy. There was no relation between duration of diving and
laser therapy efect in GI.
Conclusion: Laser therapy is efective in treatment of tinnitus of scuba divers and its efect is increased by number of
laser sessions. |
