It's not always easy to tell when a home remedy is really effective.
Sometimes conditions resolve on their own, and we wrongly assume the remedy worked.
Sometimes our minds provide us with relief because we are expecting relief to come.
Sometimes the ritual around a home remedy has unintended effects that provide some actual
relief that have nothing to do with the home remedy.
A good example of this challenge is in the practice of ear candling.
In ear candling, a hollow tube made of wax covered paper or cloth is inserted into the
ear, then lit on fire.
The claim is that the gentle heat and vacuum draws out ear wax, toxins and pathogens.
That's a specific claim that scientists can test, and I'll talk about the evidence in
a minute.
The claims about ear candling are based on anecdotes, stories where someone feels better
after ear candling; sinus headaches go away, or ringing in the ears diminishes.
If someone you know tells you about such an experience, it can be very persuasive.
Scientists, on the other hand, don't put much emphasis on these stories.
Science is conducted with facts that can be objectively tested and verified.
With that in mind, I want to review just what we can objectively test and verify.
1.
Ear candling does not produce a measurable amount of vaccuum or pressure when inserted
into a simulated ear.
Scientists in Washington state hooked a tympanometer, which measures very small pressure changes,
to an artificial type of ear used specifically to test ear safety.
It has all the properties of a human ear.
No measurable pressure change occurred... and that's not surprising.
An open cone like that used in ear candling can't maintain a vacuum precisely because
it is an open vessel.
2.
The waxy substance inside an ear candle contains no chemical traces of ear wax when used in
patients' ears.
The composition of this substance is 100% candle wax.
People using these candles peel them apart and marvel at the dark wax inside, but chemical
analysis proves that this is 100% candle wax, darkened by smoke products.
People have made multiple videos here on YouTube showing that the dark wax is present even
when not inserted into an ear, but laboratory testing of candles used according to directions
in the ears of patients also contain no ear wax.
3.
When people with ear wax impactions, big balls of the stuff lodged in the middle ear, used
ear candles, examinations of before and after conditions show no change in the amount of
ear wax present in the ear.
All that was shown was that candle wax was present inside the ear after candling.
4.
The temperature of smoke and vapor produced by ear candling in an ear analog is lower
than that of body temperature, so there's no thermal effect from added heat.
Scientists measured the air temperature from just below the lit ear candle, 10 mm below
to be precise, and found that it was 22 degrees Celsius, or 71 degrees Farenheit, well below
the temperature of the middle ear.
This eliminates the possibility that the candle is providing heat to the middle ear to liquefy
wax.
5.
There are no records of any Native American tribe, including the Hopi, ever using ear
candling as a therapy.
Representatives of the Hopi tribal group have stated clearly that this practice is not part
of their traditional practices.
It's simple to trace this claim to the Biosun website, where they claim that a German writer
in 1993 contacted a person he claimed to be the Hopi Elder and that he confirmed ear candling
to be traditional medicine.
They freely admit that there are no other written records of this practice.
6.
Ear candling is not without risk.
Let's explore this a little further.
What are the potential harms:
A. It's clear that at least in some cases, ear candles deposit candle wax into the middle
ear and possibly inner ear.
No matter how herbal or all-natural these substances are, burning wax, and plant matter
produces toxic combustion products.
B. In some cases, the inserting of the candle or introduction of combustion products has
produced permanent damage to hearing, including ruptured ear drums.
C. Depending on how the candle is used, it can cause skin burns and injury to the face
or ear.
D. In multiple instances, ear candling resulted in a dangerous fire that put human lives at
jeopardy and destroyed property.
With all the objective facts in hand, it's hard to explain why people keep putting burning
wax next to their heads and hair.
There's nothing we can verify with objective testing about the claims being made and in
fact the primary claims are clearly false when compared to lab results.
Why do otherwise intelligent and reasonable people still do this?
It's because there are still plenty of people who make claims that they got better.
I think it's because our brains are not perfect reasoning engines.
We can't entirely dismiss the stories we hear from friends, our own prior experiences.
People want to take control of their health.
People want to feel they are making smart choices and treating their bodies with respect.
If you, like me, want to make smart health choices that are based on the best evidence,
I hope you'll consider the facts discussed before putting a lit candle in your ear...
and if you want to help other people to make informed decisions about their health, feel
free to forward them this video, and share it on social media.
Good health to you, and thanks for watching.