Anyone ever try ear candling?

[BainsBane]

If so, how did it work out for you?

[davidpdx]

1. I've heard of it, but never tried it

I have a pretty bad problem with wax buildup and water in my ear. It is annoying as hell. The first few years I was here in Korea I ended up at the EMT quite a few times for scratching the inside my ear. When I can I try to use the ear wax kits you can buy at the pharmacy.

The problem is the drops only have a shelf life of about a year. Living outside the US I can't find them, so often I bring them back with me (along with every other over the counter meds I can't find here) or have someone send them to me. I have seen more and more western over the counter stuff, so I suppose one day we could get them.

I can't even buy fricken Tylenol in more than a package of 10. When I go home I bring back 500 with me. Oh, the things I miss from home.

[In_The_Wind]

2. I've done it for myself and others. It seemed to help.

[HipChick]

3. I do it pretty often..

[Xyzse]

4. I tried it on myself but I'm pretty sure I was doing it wrong.

I did it for someone however, where I massaged their face while the candle was burning...

I think she had a much better experience due to the massage more than anything else.

[rudolph the red]

5. When I was young I loved to swim, and was constantly getting ear infections.

My mom started candling my ears every week and I literally never once had another infection.

[cyberswede]

6. I don't think there's any science to back up claims of benefit.

Traditional health sources discourage it.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ear-candling/AN02086
http://www.webmd.com/fda/stay-away-ear-candles

and even non-traditional health sources:
http://www.homeopathyforlife.net/ear-candling-is-it-dangerous/

[LisaLynne]

7. My sister set my hair on fire ...

so I would say it was not the best experience.

[BainsBane]

9. Oh no!

That doesn't sound good.

[LisaLynne]

14. Well, she's sort of a clutz, so ...

I should have known better and had someone else help!

[Rowdyboy]

8. My partner and I both had some sucess with it a few years ago...

It helps to have someone to assist you if possible. While I know there's no scientific evidence that supports it, we found it useful. Good luck!

[Blue_Tires]

10. It *seemed* to help

but the risks kind of outweigh any possible benefits...

If it's not done properly you WILL be in pain for awhile afterwards...

[HERVEPA]

11. It's crap. Just woo

All real scientific studies have shown this. Can also be dangerous.

Geez. I'm sad that many DU folks don't believe in real science.

[Ptah]

12. A 2007 paper in American Family Physician had this to say:

"Ear candling also should be avoided. Ear candling is a practice in which a hollow candle
is inserted into the external auditory canal and lit, with the patient lying on the opposite ear.
In theory, the combination of heat and suction is supposed to remove earwax. However,
in one trial, ear candles neither created suction nor removed wax and actually led to occlusion
with candle wax in persons who previously had clean ear canals. Primary care physicians may
see complications from ear candling including candle wax occlusion, local burns, and
tympanic membrane perforation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_candling#Criticism

[MicaelS]

13. Been thinking about buying an Elephant Ear Washer system.

http://www.doctor-easy.com/

Amazon sells them. And the reviews seem very positive.

I have a problem with wax build up, and the only thing that works for me is to wash them out with warm water. I use a large plastic syringe, but it doesn't hold enough water.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

15. Debrox system works for me. That bulb apparatus does the trick.

http://www.debrox.com/

[csziggy]

16. Dave Barry did!

I'm All Fired Up Over A Cure For Ear Wax

By Dave Barry

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

TODAY I want to tell you about an Amazing Home Medical Remedy that you are definitely going to want to try if you are one of the thousands of Americans who have:

1. Ear wax.

2. Fire insurance.

I am talking about an ear-wax-removal product called "ear candles." I swear I am not making this product up. Ear candles were brought to my attention by alert reader Marianna Wright-Newton who sent me an advertisement featuring a cartoon drawing of a man lying down on his side; sticking out of his left ear is a long, tapered object with flames shooting out of the top. This is not a small candle such as you find on birthday cakes. This is more along the lines of the torches that the villagers used to chase the monster out of Dr. Frankenstein's castle.

The cartoon man's mouth is wide open, and he has sort of a strange expression; you can't tell whether he's saying, "This certainly is a fine home remedy!" or "Help! My brain is on fire!"

More and funnier: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19930517&slug=1701675

The bad news is while looking for that column I remembered, I found this:

FEDS PROTECT US FROM MENACE OF EAR CANDLES
By Dave Barry, Knight-Ridder Newspapers
Published: Sunday, Sept. 12 1993
<SNIP>
EAR CANDLES

You may recall that a few months back I wrote a column about ear candles, an old home remedy consisting of wax-covered cotton cones that you insert into your ears, after which you set them (the cones) on fire. This is supposed to create a draft that sucks the wax out of your ears. I got a lot of letters in response to that column; many people claimed they've used ear candles for years with great results; some people claimed the whole thing is a fraud and all the "earwax" is actually produced by the candles.

Then several alert readers sent me an article from the July 29 Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, written by Graydon Hambrick and headlined: FEDERAL AGENTS SEIZE EAR CANDLES IN RAID. The article states that on July 28, U.S. marshals and agents of the Food and Drug Administration "swooped in" to a Columbus health store and "seized about 100 candles." An FDA spokesperson said the candles were seized because they did not have FDA approval, which is required for "anything used for treatment or prevention of disease in humans or animals." An official said that the raid was part of a wider ear-candle crackdown.

I, personally, am sleeping better, knowing something is being done about this menace. I'd like to see the FDA program dramatized in a TV series, "Ear Candle Patrol," wherein each week federal agents would confront dangerous, law-violating health-store clerks ("Look out, Matt! She's got a ginseng root!&quot .

<SNIP>

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/309453/FEDS-PROTECT-US-FROM-MENACE-OF-EAR-CANDLES.html?pg=all

And this:

Medical research shows ear candling dangerous, ineffective

Published: August 31, 2010
By CHARITY BROWN
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON -- Brenda Thompson gets a treatment called ear candling from Schyla Poyndexter-Moore at the Secrets of Nature restaurant and health food store in Washington, D.C.

A hollow candle, or a piece of fabric soaked in beeswax or paraffin, is placed in the ear canal with a paper plate resting on the head to prevent burns from the wax. Then, the candle or fabric is lit. According to supporters, the practice is a remedy for removing earwax and cures ailments such as ear infections, sinusitis, migraines, postnasal drip and cancer.

The origin of this technique is unknown, but some say it can be traced to the era before Christ, to ancient Egypt and/or India. Within the past decade, its popularity has increased. Beauty salons and spas offer candling, also known as ear coning and thermal auricular therapy, and kits are available at health food stores and flea markets.

Medical research, however, holds that the practice is both ineffective and dangerous. It showed up in February on the Food and Drug Administration's equivalent of the FBI's most-wanted list.

More: http://www.islandpacket.com/2010/08/31/1354870_medical-research-shows-ear-candling.html

[UTUSN]

17. Ear wash was the best for me, but somehow got lost.

I had the candling done as a kid and it worked, the pop/clearing of the stuffiness, the woosh out the funnel. But not since then, don't know who knows how.

Many years ago I found this little old ear doctor who did the ear washing for $50 a pop. It was great, a pan held at the shoulder under the ear, the sink hose flushing warm water, with results (debris) clearly seen in the pan. But he retired and the next time I tried an ear doctor they had apparently "modernized" and to my shock inserted a pencil-like tool with a wire at the end and SCRAPED crap. When I reached my pain threshold, the doctor or physician assistant thought I was a crybaby and was fairly much insisting on proceeding, which I refused. Finally, she said she could prescribe some drops for softening stuff for a week for me to come back. That's what we did and she was able to finish without the wire.

I have not found anybody to do the water/flushing. I'm thinking I can do it with a shower hose, but haven't been bothered enough to get around to it.

[loli phabay]

18. i thought the preferred method was with a device like a water pic

It breaks the plugs hold so to speak and it just floats out.

[Throd]

19. It was a fun experience, but I don't think it provided any benefit.

At least I didn't flood my ear canal with molten beeswax.

[Kaleva]

20. Most experts deem them ineffective against Grizzly Bear attack.

[BainsBane]

21. I'll keep that in mind

[Kaleva]

22. A lit candle stuck in the ear does little to deter an enraged bear.