EAR CANDLING - a dangerous waste of time

"There is nothing that setting your ear on fire is going to cure."

Dr Rick Fox MD ENT specialist, Toronto, Canada

THE CASE

Exactly why would a rational person stick a candle in their ear and then light it?

Because they may think that:

Ear candling cleanses and harmonises the different energy fields of the individual (the aura). Ear candles are used as a clearing therapy and are used very successfully for many problems associated with the ears and the head area. The lymph system and metabolism can be influenced by this intensive, pleasant and completely painless method of operation.

But Health Canada disagrees:

The practice of ear candling has recently become popular as an alternative therapy. Some promoters say it is an ancient treatment that can cure a number of medical problems. Don't listen: ear candling is dangerous, and has no proven medical benefits.

And the FDA in the US disagrees:

Ear candles are dangerous to health when used in the manner, or with the frequency or duration prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the labeling. FDA considers these devices to be dangerous because the use of a lit candle in proximity to the face carries a significant risk of potentially severe burns to the skin/hair, ear canal, tympanic membrane, and middle ear structures.

In Australia the TGA will only approve ear candles that have a filter to prevent burns. According to the TGA website there are five brands of ear candle currently approved for use.

Proponents of ear candling say that it is a traditional Hopi Indian therapy, in fact much of the literature is centred around this. But the Hopi Tribal Council in Kykotsmovi, Arizona, is quoted as saying that that ear candling:

"is not and has never been a practice conducted by the Hopi tribe or the Hopi people."

Never let the truth get in the way of a good sales spiel. But what about all that orange gooey stuff captured in the candle?

It really is a good act and it is easy to be taken in, but careful research has proven that all the trapped wax comes from the candle and not the ear.

So if ear candling can achieve all of these claimed benefits:

• cleanse the ear canal


• relieve sinus pressure and pain


• improve hearing


• better lymph circulation


• purify the mind


• regulate pressure


• strengthen the brain


• relieve pain and fever associated with a ruptured eardrum


• cure swimmer's ear and other ear infections


• cure earaches


• instead of grommets


• sharpen the senses of smell, taste, and color perception


• antibiotic


• anti-inflammatory


• antiseptic


• stabilize emotion


• stop tinnitus


• help jaw pain and stiffness


• vertigo


• fortify the central nervous system


• clear the eyes


• purify the blood


• cure Meniere's syndrome


• sinusitis


• release blocked energy


• reduce stress and tension


• herpes zoster infection of the ear


• open and align the chakras


• open the spiritual centers and cleanse the auric bodies.

we won't need doctors any more, will we!

MY VERDICT

Yeah right. Ear candling is yet another "alternate" therapy for which there is not a shred of evidence of any benefit, and quite a lot of evidence of harm. Admittedly the harm is usually limited to buying something useless, but some people have ended with burns to the ear canal and even damaged the ear drum itself.