What Are Ear Candles?

Ear candles are hollow tubes made from cotton and various waxes. The candles vary in size. One end fits snugly in the ear and the other end is set alight. A treatment generally takes 5 - 10 minutes per ear.

What are Ear Candles used for?

Ear candles are used as a treatment for relaxation and to treat the symptoms of, amongst others, sinusitis, pink eye, vertigo (dizziness), hearing loss, blocked ears and tinnitus. The treatment normalises pressure in the ear and is an effective treatment for swimmers ear and helps with problems after flying. Ear candling treatments can stimulate your body's natural systems to remove excess ear wax, debris, Candida infections and fungus, although ear candles will not physically remove ear wax during the treatment.

How do ear candles work?

Ear candles are not medical devices; they are an energy modality more akin to acupuncture or reflexology than an ear syringe. The treatment increases blood flow and stimulates lymphatic drainage, restoring balance and enables your body to correct any problems. Physically the heat from the flame creates a stimulating, warming effect and creates a spiral energy vortex. This removes excess mucus in the middle ear, inner ear, sinuses and nose. It also increases the mobility of the white blood cells and improves the immune response. Whilst as previously stated ear candles do not physically remove ear wax they do create the conditions whereby your body restores balance to its systems. The treatment also engenders a relaxed state which the body is better able to fight imbalances.

After an ear candle treatment do not cut the candle open. What is inside is irrelevant. How do you feel? Relaxed? Energised? Clear headed?

History of Ear Candling

There are lots of tales from around the world that suggest that ear candling is an ancient practice. Nearly all of these are apocryphal or at the very least wildly inaccurate. Evidence of the ancient Tibetans, Aztecs, Chinese, Egyptians and even more ridiculously the Atlanteans mostly stems from a single psychic channelling experiment conducted in December 1991, which was not verifiable and is not historical data. If you ask anyone who publishes these claims where their evidence is you will soon find there isn't any and that it is a self perpetuating myth in the ear candling community. Even the more established stories about the Hopi Indians over the past 20 years are hotly disputed by the Hopis themselves.

Certainly the practice was used in some forms in the USA at least 80 years ago. I read a story where a mother set light to a rolled up newspaper dipped in paraffin and inserted it into her son's ear as a cure for earache! It sounds dangerous, but it worked.

What we know for sure is that in Europe and America there has been resurgence in popularity of the treatment over the past 20 years. It is increasing in popularity because it works. The problem is the practice of ear candling is exposed to accusations of quackery because of the myths and outright fraud surrounding the treatment. Part of the problem is the references to a history for which there is no evidence.

The Ear Wax Removal Misconception

I am going to say this now in big letters so hopefully a few people will take note. EAR CANDLES DO NOT SUCK WAX OUT OF THE EARS! The false perception held by the public at large is that ear candles pull wax from the ears and it is this removal is what heals their ailment. Anything in the bottom of the candle that looks like earwax is from the beeswax component of the candle. There have been studies that prove beyond doubt that none of the material is from the human ear. Furthermore ear candles do not create any negative pressure that can be measured by modern medical equipment. There is no vacuum and not even a fraction of the power required to extract ear wax.

False claims and misrepresentations have led many in the medical community to accuse ear candling practitioners of quackery. However this ignores one important fact. EAR CANDLING WORKS! There are thousands of verbal and written testimonials that prove that many symptoms of ailments such as sinusitis, vertigo, hearing loss, blocked ears and tinnitus. Ear candling does not physically remove compacted ear wax, candida infections or fungus. However ear candles do serve as a conduit for any releases the body is able to make. Ear candles act as a catalyst that affects the body's system and enables us to relax and allows the eustacian, sinus and lymphs to open and drain.

And finally...

Ear candling is an extremely useful treatment that helps thousands of people, and I am one of them. You can get relief from many problems, including stress. Ear candles will however not cure diseases and you should consult your Doctor if you have any pathological problems.

David Harris
Something For The Wickend

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