Why You Shouldn’t – Listen to Ear Candling Claims

Ear Candle claims

The ear candling is a technique of removing off the excess ear wax and dirt from the ear, carried out by lighting the wider side of a specially designed cone waxed candles, and the pointed end is placed near the ear canal. The suction created by the warmth of the candle is said to pull off the excess wax, debris, or the dirt present in the ear canal into the hollow candle. The procedure is strictly carried out by experienced practitioners and experts and is not recommended at home. As proof, the candle is vertically opened to show the collected material. The Ear candle marketers advertise the procedure for treatments of removing ear wax build-up, ear pains, ear infections, sinus, tinnitus, problems related to ENT, etc.

Are the ear candling claims true or false?

Studies suggest there is no scientific evidence.  The material found in the candle’s hollow part removes the debris of the ear, as a lot of people who have gone through the treatment saw no change in the amount of ear wax that was present before and after the ear candling process. So, the claims that say ear candling pulls out debris are false.

Here is a scientific approach to” how” and “why” those claims are false?

• The suction created by candles remove ear wax
  A completely false because the structure of ear wax is greasy, sticky, and adheres strictly to the inner sides of the ear. It is even sometimes hard to dig out with any pointed element with doctors. The suction force is not adequate that it can pull out sticky ear wax. And also, if the created suction is so strong, then the person should feel it as the candles one end is vacuumed to the ear for the treatment.
• The material found after vertical opening is the debris pulled out from the ear.
  Another proven false claim because studies had shown that this material was found even when the candle was light without placing near the ear. So, this dark material or so-called “debris” is the already present elements of the candle.
• The ear wax melts and falls out due to candle temperature.
  The claim is opposite and stood false because the studies found that when the candle was light, it had a temperature below the normal body temperature and could not melt the ear wax in the first place; thus doesn’t fall out in any way.

The ear candling technique’s claim to remove the debris from the ear. The process involves melting the ear wax with the help of suction. All of the claimed treatment stood false when the research was conducted.