Ear candling
Template:Alternative medicine sidebar Ear candling, also called ear coning or thermal-auricular therapy, is a pseudoscientific<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> alternative medicine practice claiming to improve general health and well-being by lighting one end of a hollow candle and placing the other end in the ear canal. Medical research has shown that the practice is both dangerous and ineffective<ref name="Seely">Template:Cite journal</ref> and does not functionally remove earwax or toxicants, despite product design contributing to that impression.<ref name=MayoClinic.org>Template:Cite web</ref>
Technique
One end of a cylinder or cone of waxed cloth is lit, and the other is placed into the subject's ear. The flame is cut back occasionally with scissors and extinguished between five and ten centimeters (two to four inches) from the subject.
The subject lies on one side with the treated ear uppermost and the candle vertical. The candle can be stuck through a paper plate or aluminium pie tin to protect against any hot wax or ash falling onto the subject. Another way to perform ear candling involves the subject lying face up with the ear candle extending out to the side with a forty-five-degree upward slant. A dish of water is placed next to the subject under the ear candle.
Proponents claim that the flame creates negative pressure, drawing wax and debris out of the ear canal,<ref name=why>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Better source needed which appears as a dark residue.
An ear candling session lasts up to one hour, during which one or two ear candles may be burned for each ear.
Safety and effectiveness
Professor of Complementary Medicine Edzard Ernst wrote about ear candles: "There is no data to suggest that it is effective for any condition. Furthermore, ear candles have been associated with ear injuries. The inescapable conclusion is that ear candles do more harm than good. Their use should be discouraged."<ref name=Ernst>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=TrickOrTreatment>Template:Cite book</ref>
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ear candling is sometimes promoted with claims that the practice can "purify the blood" or "cure" cancer. Health Canada has determined the candles do not affect the ear, and provide no health benefit; instead, they create a risk of injury, especially when used on children.<ref name=webmd>Template:Cite web</ref> In October 2007, US FDA issued an alert identifying ear candles (also known as ear cones or auricular candles) as "dangerous to health when used in the dosage or manner, or with the frequency or duration, prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the labeling thereofTemplate:Nbsp... since the use of a lit candle in the proximity of a person's face would carry a high risk of causing potentially severe skin/hair burns and middle ear damage."<ref name="FDA">Template:Cite web</ref>
A 2007 paper in the journal Canadian Family Physician concludes:
A 2007 paper in American Family Physician said:
The Spokane Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic conducted a research study in 1996, which concluded that ear candling does not produce negative pressure and is ineffective in removing wax from the ear canal.<ref name="Seely"/> Several studies have shown that ear candles produce the same residue — which is simply candle wax and soot — when burnt without ear insertion.<ref name="Seely" /><ref name="straight dope">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
At least two house fires (one fatal) have been caused by accidents during ear candling.<ref name=Schwartz>Template:Cite news</ref>
A survey of ear, nose and throat surgeons found some who had treated people with complications from ear candling, and that burns were the most common.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Product regulations
In Europe, some ear candles bear the CE mark (93/42/EEC), though they are mostly self-issued by the manufacturer. This mark indicates that the device is designed and manufactured so as not to compromise the safety of patients, but no independent testing is required as proof.<ref name="Goldacre">Template:Cite news</ref>
While ear candles are widely available in the US, selling or importing them with medical claims is illegal.<ref name="FDA" />
In a report, Health Canada states "There is no scientific proof to support claims that ear candling provides medical benefits.Template:Nbsp... However, there is plenty of proof that ear candling is dangerous". It says that while some people claim to be selling the candles "for entertainment purposes only", the Canadian government maintains that there is no reasonable non-medical use, and hence any sale of the devices is illegal in Canada.<ref name="HealthCanada1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Bromstein"/>
Origin
Ear candle manufacturer Biosun referred to them as "Hopi" ear candles, but there is no such treatment within traditional Hopi healing practices. Vanessa Charles, public relations officer for the Hopi Tribal Council, has stated that ear candling "is not and has never been a practice conducted by the Hopi tribe or the Hopi people."<ref name=Bromstein>Template:Cite news</ref> The Hopi tribe has repeatedly asked Biosun to stop using the Hopi name.<ref name=Hopi>Template:Cite web "The Hopi Cultural Preservation Office is not aware of Hopi people ever practicing 'Ear Candling.' Biosun and Revital Ltd. are misrepresenting the name 'Hopi' with their products. This therapy should not be called 'Hopi Ear Candeling.' [sic] The history of Ear Candeling [sic] should not refer to being used by the Hopi Tribe. Use of this false information with reference to Hopi should be stopped."</ref> Biosun ignored the request for over a decade until sometime after 2014<ref name=biosun_claim>Template:Cite web Claims have varied, including "The Hopi, the oldest Pueblo people with great medicinal knowledge and a high degree of spirituality, brought this knowledge to Europe with the professional involvement of BIOSUN" and "BIOSUN Earcandles have their origins in the century-old culture of the Hopi Indians and other cultures."</ref> when the product was rebranded as "traditional earcandles" in Germany, although the product is still marketed by third-party US resellers as "Hopi".
Many advocates of ear candles claim that the treatment originates from traditional Chinese, Egyptian, or North American medicine. The mythical city of Atlantis is also reported to be the origin of this practice, which has no documentation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The earliest records state that it was first practiced by Americans in the 20th century from some European immigrants. It developed largely in Arizona.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
External links
- Horowitz, Janice M. (June 19, 2000). "Ear Candling". Time.