Anyone have experience with "ear candles"

Nurses General Nursing

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OK, I already alluded to in a previous thread my pure unadulterated joy at flushing people's ears out which I do with some regularity at my new job. (Laugh if you must, but I consider it a little step above enemas and impactions, which I've also had to do a lot of in my time! ;)) Today, I flushed a hunk of crap as big as the first joint of my pinkie finger out of a girl's ear. (Keep getting visions of that annoying wireless phone commercial, "Can you hear me NOW?") She said she had been trying to use ear candles to draw out the wax and wondered if they helped. Whether they work for others or not, I don't know, but her wax was clearly way beyond any therapeutic benefit of a candle. Told her I had no knowledge and she's going to call back next week after I do some research and question the docs.

Gut instinct is that they're probably a crock, and there was a weird film coating the outside of her ear goober that I don't usually see and might be attributable to the ear candles.

Thoughts?

Specializes in hospital, ortho/neuro.

I tried them. My exwife is totally convinced they work, but I think it's a placebo effect, at best. Nasty smoke, but kind of neat to see someone laying on the floor with a this flaming thing stickin' out of their head... Here's a couple sites: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_098.html http://www.quackwatch.org/search/webglimpse.cgi?ID=1&query=ear+candles . Mark, RN

Well...

I have used these candles and exactly as described above you insert one through a hole in a paper plate to catch any drippings (although they rarely drip) and burn the candle... the candle itself is a hollow cone of weaved paper coated thinly in wax. The wax is usually either parafin or bee wax and I've tried them both and they seem about the same. When placing this in your ear and lighting one end you immediately can see the smoke barrelling down the cone shape into the ear... I base the following on my own common sense through testing them.

1. These dont remove any wax.. not one iota... instead they warm the ear and allow hardened wax to loosen often giving immediate relief.

2. The wax observed at the bottom of the candle when it's been burnt has not actually come from the ear but is rather a build up from the burnt wax of the candle which due to the smoke resembles ear wax. (I actually cut open the candle to smell the wax.. yeah I know its discusting but I had to know)

3. As far as I can tell there is no danger in doing this aside from the fire involved. The suction force is very weak considering this is not sealed on your ear canal and it's not neccesary for it to be. Although I've found the same amount of relief a candle offers but by placing a warm towel on my ear for about 20 minutes.

4. When seriously trying to remove my impacted ear wax. I soften the wax by pouring a few drops of 50% water and Hydrogen Peroxide into my ear and allowing it to foam and bubble for about 15 minutes in each ear.. Then I use a solution 9:1 Water / Hydrogen Peroxide. Roughly 80 degree water (warm to the touch but not nearly hot enough to burn) and place it inside of a clean/sterile spray bottle (capible of spraying a thin but steady stream) and then place the tip at the end of my ear canal and fire away over a sink.

Now I can feel the pressure and remove the wax with a little more than a tickle and no pain... but by my standards this is also slow and not highly effective. It usually takes me an hour from start to finish and even at the end I can only feel the relief from the pain caused by the impacted wax which may be in the ear canal still but no longer putting pressure on the canal walls or ear drum.

Specializes in PACU, ED.
Actually it acts more like a chimney...

If you light a fire at the top of a chimney, you get a gas draw from the bottom of the chimney created by the burning fuel at the top. The same works with ear candles. Yes, the residue inside the top of the candle is from the candle itself. The residue toward the bottom is actually ear wax. They look different and have different textures as well.

I can see that it may make a very slight suction. So why play with fire around someone's head? Just use an 18 french or other suitable size probe connected to low suction. Maybe it's just me but sticking lit paper cones in my ears sounds like something I'd expect to do at a rugby party.:lol2:

I'll stick to flushing my ears with hydrogen peroxide and warm water--not sexy, not 'natural', but effective and safe.

But it's more fun with cold water..especially when you do it to someone else!

Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

Hehe, the title of this thread made me picture the movie Shrek, and Shrek pulling a big hunk of wax out of his ear to make a candle for his dinner table. :)

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

In the ER we use liquid colace to soften, then irrigate with warm water (I use an 18 gauge angio on a 10 cc syringe) with gentle pressure. Do it at home for my mom with a bulb syringe.

Specializes in Med-surg.

We did an experiment with these at school, examining the amount of wax in the ear before and after candling and did not find any difference. Also read a lot of articles in support and against the practice and have to say I'm skeptical. They say the amount of suction that would be necessary to remove wax would burst the eardrum. Kind of bummed because I was hoping it would work!

Speech Pathologist/Audiologist here and I MUST tell you that we HATE these! Most people have no problems, but I have occasionally seen people with wax on the tympanic membrane ("ear drum") because of candling. (Especially kids.)This greatly alters and can permanently damage the conduction of sound...

If you have THAT MUCH wax build up--- ask the ENT or an audiologist to safely remove it. Overuse is common as well... we do NEED wax in the outer ear canal as a protection mechanism.

Also- wax has nothing to do with ear aches... pain is resulting from eustachian tube pressure on the inner ear.

This question came up back when I was in nursing school, and the instructor told us that it's a crock, and the nasty looking wax at the bottom is simply the wax from the candle itself. She said that the warmth is what makes the ear feel better. She used to work in a pediatrician's office and would get upset over the kids who would have to suffer longer while their parents wasted money on the candles. She's pretty passionate about the subject, brought in all types of articles the next class period for us to read. I'd have to agree with those who think the candles are a cheap parlor trick, and nothing more.

Specializes in ER/Trauma.

Nevah heard of this one....

Personally, I used a Q-tip (or the rolled up end of my towel) rigth after a bath - every 3 days or so. So long as there is no real "visible" muck and my hearing don't feel funny, I leave my ears alone.

Specializes in Jill of all trades, master of none?.

I am currently a massage therapist and used to charge clients for this. A few years ago, a friend and I were bored so we "candled" each other and compared "gunk." Then, we each candles the backs of our hands. Interestingly we had just as much "ear wax" in our hands as we had in our ears! Hmmm....we were both already doubting the whole deal. I gave away my remaining candles and never stole anyone's money for this again!:innerconf

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.
Also- wax has nothing to do with ear aches... pain is resulting from eustachian tube pressure on the inner ear.

I beg to differ. I have removed wax from people's ears (not by candling, but the old fashioned soften and irrigate). Their pain relief was significant! Pressure on the outer canal from that much wax hurts.

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