Combined laser-EGb 761 tinnitus therapy.

The treatment of patients with chronic tinnitus is very problematic and therefore otologists are trying to discover more suitable courses of therapy. In this study we wanted to evaluate the outcome of using a combination of EGb 761 and soft laser therapy. We examined 120 patients with an average duration of tinnitus of 10 years. The patients underwent pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry and objective audiometry tests. The intensity and frequency of tinnitus was also determined. EGb 761 was administered 3 weeks before starting soft laser therapy. Patients underwent 10 sessions of laser therapy, each lasting for 10 min. An improvement in tinnitus was audiometrically confirmed in 50.8% of patients: 10 dB in 18; 20 dB in 22; 30 dB in 10; 40 dB in 6; and 50 dB in 5.