Perform a quick online search for “ear candling,” and you’ll be bombarded with over 600,000 results immediately. You’ll find claims ranging from “candling cures a wide number of diseases,” as well as removing ear wax, all the way to warnings about how dangerous and ineffective the process can be.
Ear candling, sometimes referred to as simply “candling” or “ear coning,” is a common therapeutic practice used in natural health centers all over the world. Practitioners will often recommend this procedure to clients with hearing loss, vertigo, tinnitus, cold/flu symptoms and a long list of other symptoms.
However, the FDA in the United States, as well as similar organizations in other countries, have outlawed the use of ear candling to claim any sort of medical benefit and cautioned the public to “just say no.”
That sounds a little mind-boggling, don’t you think.
How Ear Candling Is Supposed to Work
An ear candle is a hollow cone created from unbleached fabric, usually linen, soaked in paraffin, beeswax or soy wax. They range in length, averaging about a foot long.
First, you’ll be instructed to lie on your side and make sure your face and outer ear are protected by something like a plate. It will have a hole cut in the middle around the candle to avoid burns from wax drippings. Your practitioner should gently insert the tapered end of the candle into your ear canal at a 90 degree angle from the ear.
For 10 to 15 minutes, you’ll enjoy the pleasant, crackling sound of the burning candle as the person burning it cuts off the end of the cloth every two inches or so. When about four inches remain, the candle is removed from the ear and then blown out.
Turn over. Repeat. Then, look at the disgusting gunk that came out of your ears. How could all of that stuff have been in my head, you ask?
Supposedly, ear candling creates a vacuum inside the ear in order to draw out ear wax. Because of the buildup in the ear canal seen on the burned candle, it’s easy to see why people prescribe ear candles for things such as:
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