Hopi ear candles.. what's the scoop?

[anonymousbird]

Bizzare conversation on Radio 5 yesterday about ear syringing etc and hopi candles were mentioned - what are they? What do they do? How do they work?!? Info gratefully received!

Theyre wicked... cone shaped wax things, stick it in your ear and light the end, they suck out all the wax. The best bit (if youre a sicko like me) is opening them to see the wax afterwards..! Get them from chinese med shops... HTH

They are a long thin hollow candle. You lie on your side and stick one end in your ear, then light the top and let it burn down nearly to your ear. (generally best if someone else does this for obvious safety reasons!)

The theory is that the hollow tube burning creates a vacuum that sucks any gunk out of your ear.

I had it done once when my ear was blocked after a bad ear infection. Didn't work, I think the gunk was too solid - though I did get an excruciating pain about an hour later (as if the gunk was trying to escape) which I think may have been related, so suggests they do do something. Apologies if TMI.

Medical researchers dismiss them as ineffective - take a look at wiki

I have trained in using them, and have read research which claims they don't work, and the residue that you are left with is just produced by the candle itself, not wax coming out from the ear. However, if this is true I can't understand why the residue / wax that is left in the candle afterwards isn't exactly the same each time I look after using the candles.

There is often a great deal of difference, sometimes just this wierd powdery stuff, other times orange hard waxy stuff (no powder), in varying amounts from a few little blobs to enormous great long chunks. Sometimes a mixture of powdery stuff and hard orangy wax. Quite odd really.

Ok, kind of got the picture now! Thanks for the info.

Not sure I would trust myself to do it, but would have to go to a practitioner....

But what is the difference at the end of the day between this and going (for free) to the Nurse at the GP's and getting them syringed??? Is there a whole "experience" around the hopi candles? Is it relaxing?

Have problem with persistent wax - Hopi candling was relaxing and pleasant but not very effective. Am trying to avoid syringing as having it done so frequently - had suctioning done privately for £50 (ouch!) which was much more gentle.

whys it bright orange then?

The wax is from the candle. They have been tested, and you can test them yourself: light one without sticking it in your ear and look at the residue. Also, anything that created enough of a vacuum to pull wax from your ear runs the risk of damaging the eardrum. However, the candles don't produce enough suction to do thus, so you're main risk is damage to the ear canal from drops of molten wax.

Get your ears syringed. No drugs, no risk.

Also, it's not part of Hopi Indian medical tradition. I think the Hopi have complained about the use if the name before.

The residue is different because it's a natural product (beeswax). Each batch will produce slightly different results. The residue is not earwax.

Ooh I stand corrected. They do help with that under water dizzy feeling though

OP, you may like to read this before making up your mind.

From Time magazine:

Aside from an earful of candle wax, candling could lead to infection, burns to the ear canal or eardrum--or burning hair. The FDA considers ear candles hazardous to health.

Another problem: there's no proof candling works. A small study a few years ago in the journal Laryngoscope showed that a lighted candle could never create enough suction to draw out wax. The "ear debris" left in the candle's hollows, assumed by aficionados to be proofhowever ickythat candling is doing its stuff, is nothing more than melted wax from the candle itself.

Read more: www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,47112,00.html#ixzz0pATghZ00

Hopi candles aren't like conventional wax candles tho, if its the candle wax residue surely there should be some on the outside of the candle too not just in the inside bottom part.

I think they do work, I use them (I know they have notihng to do with native americans) occasionally.

The best way of keeping ears clean tho, is putting a couple of drops of olive oil in the ear once a week or so, it cleans out ears really well, and don't try cleaning ears with cotton buds as that just pushes the wax further in.

No, I'm just a triple gold starred sceptic.

You can get these ear-drops called Waxsol; not an instant fix, you have to use it a few times before it dissolves the build-up iirc, but - crucially - there is no associated risk of burning etc. And it works.

I'm now trying to work out how this fits in to S&B