How to Use Ear Candles
Alternative medicine has many tools and remedies to cure disease. While many people believe and have faith in alternative treatments, some of them are downright dangerous and cause more harm than good. One of these dangerous treatments is ear candling.
What Is Ear Candling?
Ear candling, or ear coning, is also called thermal-auricular therapy. Promoters of ear candling claim that the therapy has two positive effects for the human body:
Helps remove earwax. A positive claim for ear candling is that it helps manage the buildup of excess earwax better than cotton buds or medical treatments. The heat of the lit ear cone claims to dissolve the excess earwax, which then gets sucked into the candle.
Sucks out toxins. Many advocates of ear candling claim that the heat and positive energy from an ear candle can detoxify the body. The remedy works by sucking out the toxins and pollutants from the spinal fluid. Advocates claim that the candle creates a small vacuum that removes toxins from the head, which gives people a feeling of bliss and relaxation after the treatment.
Candling the Ear
ear candleThe key tool in ear candling is a waxy cone made of paper soaked in paraffin wax. The pointed end of the cone is stuck in the ear, and a paper or foil plate covers the side of the face for protection. The flared end of the cone is then lit. The candle is allowed to burn for 10-15 minutes. Some patients claim to have a very pleasant and peaceful feeling while their ears are being candled, although other patients feel an intense feeling of discomfort.
After the candling session is finished, the candle is unrolled or split open, and the patient is presented with debris that are claimed to be made of earwax, along with yeast and toxins extracted from the body.
Dangers of Ear Candling
Like anything that sounds too good to be true, ear candling is not an effective remedy for the illnesses and diseases it claims to cure. Here are some of the reasons why ear candling doesn’t work and is a potential danger to your health and well-being:
No suction. To be an effective suction device, the ear candle has to generate very high levels of heat. Ear cones generate more or less the same heat value as a burning piece of paper. The wax inside the candle are not actually made up of yeast and other toxins, but the wax and powder residue from the candle itself.
No medical benefits. Like many alternative treatments that claim to replace modern medicine, ear candling has no approved medical benefits or therapeutic claims. Many doctors have already studied ear candling extensively, and found that the remedy does not cure anything at all.
Ear injuries. An ear candle may just cost around $5.00 each, but the cost for repairing your ear in the event of a burn or a ruptured eardrum cost more. There have been some cases of people who suffered punctured eardrums and ear damage from the wax droplets which drip from inside the candle.
Many medical treatments boil down to a matter of personal choice, but you should be wary of treatments that claim to cure everything. With these warnings about ear candling, you should consider more effective actual medical treatments for the illnesses and diseases it claims to cure.