anyone try candling for the ears?

[terryg11]

I believe it requires a special beeswax candle but have heard it works in getting out built up wax out of the ears. anyone have some experience with this?

on edit
have seen it done but never tried it myself. the person who dd it couldn't telll a differnce

[BigMcLargehuge]

1. It's a fraud

I think James Randi has an in depth debunking of the proceedure.

[Az]

2. Potentially dangerous fraud

It runs the risk of dripping hot wax in your inner ear. Just don't do it.

[terryg11]

8. I hve seen these candles used and there is no wax drip

possible hot ash but you are supposed to cut that away as it burns obviously need someone else to help with that part

[justinpower]

20. ear candling

justin's wife opinion:
to clearly answer your question about ear candling is simple. I've studied alternative medicine for 12 years and manage a health food store. I am not a practicing pracitioner,only a nursing student but I thought this might help clear up any confusion.

This is my personal opinion about ear candles. This is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose any medical condition. Ear candling is not intended to be used in place of regular medical intervention. Only use the ear candles in the way they are intended to be used for therapetic purposes. You never want to used a ear candle if there is a possiblity or a known ear infection. And is suggested to be used only every 3- 4 months or more as rountine maintance to balance and prevent excess ear wax build up. Next time you see you doctor please discuss this with them before trying, some people may have other types of medical complications or illness that you would not want to used this type of prevention. You do not want to cause any harm to yourself or to others in the process.

The candles are made of cheese cloth wich is formed into a tapered cone shape and then dripped into a natural beeswax which is either unbleached or bleached. You will need another person to help you. Have the other person light the candle on the fatter end. The narrow tamper end of the candle is then gently put into the ear. Just into the outer edges of your ear do not pushed deep into the ear canal. *It is suggested to always have someone else hold the candle while you are laying down comfortably on a bed or cot. It does take about 10-15 minutes. Some people find it more comforting to cut a small hole into a paper plate or aluminum foil and place the ear candle in the middle. The side peripheral vision makes objects appear closer then maybe. This can help with any anxiety of seeing a fire that close to your head. Let the candle burn down about 3-5 inches or until person is feeling uncomfortable. *Make sure you have a cup of water close to where the candling is be performed. This insures safe extinguishing of the ear candle. Do not perform on someone who may have alot of hair spray or gel in their hair and make sure the hair is out of the way of the ear lobe. You want to use common sense to prevent and not harm to someone in the process. Also use only one candle per ear. This creates a suction and vaccum has been know to loosen or pull out any excess wax that might be building up in the ear canal. It is not intended to be used in place of regular medical interventions. Some people feel it's safer to use as a substitute to sticking a Q-tip into your ear. Everyone production of wax build up is different and you do need to have some in your ear for many reasons. Refer to a medical reference book or look at medical site on line. *Talk to your doctor before using and check out other sources to vertify this information for yourself. A local health food store or online are two good sources.

[meegbear]

3. Here's a writeup on it

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_098.html

[Intelsucks]

4. If you're having a problem with this, try an ear syringe with warm water

I had trouble with my ears being clogged up with excessive wax when I was very young. The ear syringe works.

[justinpower]

5. Yup

It is not beeswax candles. Indeed you should never stick a *candle* in your ear. Ear Candles are made of some sort of stiff cloth with a slightly waxy coating. They are hollow tubes. You stick the narrow end in the ear and set fire to the other end. The warmth of the flame softens the wax while the updraft created pulls it from your ear. I have had mixed results with them, but I wouldnt call them an out and out fraud.

[Az]

9. Try an experiment

To see if its claims are true. Stick one in a bowl of water and see if it can draw a substantial quantity of water up. Have a second bowl with a candle unlit as a control.

[justinpower]

10. Well for example

They work very well for my wife. When I candle her ears the draw out lots of wax, you can see it lining the ear candle tube. They do not work well on my ears. I dont know if it is the composition of my ear wax as compared to hers, or the shapes of our ear canals or what. They do work for some folks though and should not be written off.

[Az]

11. Problem is

You don't know what is bringing about the effect. It may well be that simple attention to the ear is enough to dislodge the wax or create a placebo effect. With a demonstable experiment you can see that there simply is not enough pressure generated to dislodge anything from a lit candle. Try the experiment. Seek the truth.

[justinpower]

13. No Really

My wife has had loads of trouble with her ears. She has tried several things to help and ear candles have been virtually the only thing that has worked for her. I dont know why it works, but it does.

[Az]

15. Thats when we start asking questions

Not when we stop and accept a claim. If it works something is going on. Find out what. Try the experiment and see. There is no pressure generated. Something else is going on. Can't speak for you specific case. This is why anecdotal evidence is no good. Could be a gazillion explanations.

[Az]

16. Example

Uri Geller made an act (besides bending spoons) of taking old dead watches and making them work again. He did this by holding them in his hand for a moment and then gesturing. He even claimed to be able to make watches work in peoples homes over the TV. He would tell people to go get broken watches and hold them up to the TV. And the shows he was on invariably got calls saying it worked.

Here is what was going on. Mechanical watches sometimes breakdown because of an accumulation of gunk within the workings. Geller would take such a watch and hold it in his hands thus warming it a bit. Then a few theatrical shakes would also further the process. The watch would often start working for a while. Long enough for the show. But then break down again.

The calls that came in claiming watches started working at home were simply the result of statistics. With 1000s of viewers watching there are going to be enough with watches that simply needed a bump or two to start working again that you will get calls. This is the problem with anecdotal evidence. You simply do not know what caused the correction without proper testing and examination. For every caller there are 100s of people sitting there looking silly holding a watch up to the TV and winding up with a still dead watch.

[Mr. McD]

6. It works Great

It does exactly what it is supposed to do. I first did it when I had an impacted eardrum. Instead of spending several days softening the wax so a doctor could remove it. The ear candling took only a short time and the pain was gone by morning.

[BlueEyedSon]

7. If you need to clean your ears, get drops from the drug store.

You can GENTLY use a bulb syringe to flush them, too.

[Kolesar]

12. I like "the doctor's book of home remedies"

I use it like a medical encyclopedia. and no, it is not written by Dr. Dean.

[Rowdyboy]

14. It worked very well for us several times....

Never had the slightest problem and it ALWAYS helped.

We buy them oat our local health food store.

[eileen_d]

17. I have done it - I don't remember the details

but it did seem to help a little. The kits I bought at the drugstore never worked for me - in one case it even seemed to make things worse by kind of spreading the wax around.

What works best for me is a doctor's visit - irrigation with warm water. If I could do it effectively myself, I would.

[jimbo fett]

18. I stick to licking them personally.

[radwriter0555]

19. Q-tips are much easier... candling is way too much drama.

and it's just STRANGE.

[Westegg]

21. No. But leeches cured my dropsy.

And blood-letting fixed my choler up right and proper. Thank God for the barber, that's what I say.