Issue 42.12
Ear candling. I have had a lot of people ask me if this procedure actually works to remove wax from the ear canals. Ear candling is also called coning. The premise is that by putting a burning, cone-shaped candle in your ear that it will create negative pressure that will then pull out ear wax. There have also been claims by some that ear candling will also clean impurities out the sinuses, brain, and other body parts.
A number of years ago I had enough people start asking me about ear candling that I decided that I would look into it in greater depth. I had some patients who were planning on having the ear candling performed so I had them come into the office first. We took pictures of their ears with my video otoscope before and after the candling. Guess what??? There was no difference in the amount of wax in their ear canals. The candling didn’t help. My patients were astonished.
They told me that they had seen a lot of ear wax when they had cut open the ear candle. The wax that they actually had seen had been the wax from the candle itself.
There are documented cases of ear candling causing significant distress to the ear canals. This occurs when hot wax drips into the ear and there have been cases of burnt ear canals, burnt eardrums (requiring surgery to correct), infections, etc. There is a good article online that goes into greater detail about ear candling. It can be found at www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candling.html
So do I think that ear candling works? No, I do not. In fact, it can cause damage to the ear canals, eardrums, and other structures found in the ear. Not to mention that people have burnt their houses down while candling. In an upcoming article I will talk about the proper way to clean your ears. Until then……Good Hearing.
Eric Maxwell can be contacted at Advanced Hearing &Balance Specialists 435-216-5077.