Q:
Is there medical evidence to disprove that ear waxing does or does not work. Is the wax that they remove wax from the candle or is it wax from the ear. Is it a fake? If it is the consumers should be warned of this method. Please reply as soon as possible. Thank you.
I've revamped this a bit from the original publication. Updates are printed in dark green.
A: I am not aware of any scientific publications on the
topic of "candling." Check out this article at The
Skeptic's Dictionary... they
have a literature citation on candling that you may find
interesting.
I have often heard that if you burn one of these candles outside of the ear, the wax in the core of the candle develops a suspiciously brown character. Draw your own conclusions. More recently, I've experimented with two different brands of these critters. Both filled a glass red top tube (used for blood collection) with a fine brown haze. I've seen this material in the ears of candlers, too; it can be irritating, and it's a devil to clean out.
Many ENTs have reported seeing patients who had their ears candled, and yet had no improvement in their hearing. When the ENT examines their ears, guess what-- they're full of ear wax!
Finally, I know many ENTs who have treated patients with ear drum injuries due to hot wax flowing down the ear canal. (I've treated two patients for burns due to candles.) I am still dreading to hear of someone turning their head into a torch, thanks to an ear candle.
I don't know if you have read my essay on ear wax, but I do say a few nasty things in that essay about candling.
Again, if you don't believe me, check out the Skeptic's Dictionary article and its associated links.
By the way, despite what you may have heard, butt candling is most definitely a hoax.
A Few More Links
Here's a site with no integrity. While the text acknowledges that ear candling is probably a rip-off, the bulk of the page provides lots and lots of links to candle vendors.
And here's a great article from The Straight Dope. The author's findings correspond with my own experiments with candles.
Here's where I learned that candling is actually called thermo-auricular therapy. Sounds damned impressive, don't it?
A naturopathic physician has experimented with candles, too. Here's what he learned.
