TCS Advertising & Public Relations: Advanced Hearing & Balance Specialists Ear Candling: Good or Bad?

Dr. Eric L. Maxwell

Ear Candling: Good or Bad?

Ear candling. I have had a lot of people ask me if this procedure actually works to remove wax from the ear canals. Ear candling is also called coning. The premise is that by putting a burning, cone-shaped candle in your ear that it will create negative pressure that will then pull out ear wax. There have also been claims by some that ear candling will also clean impurities out the sinuses, brain, and other body parts.

A number of years ago I had enough people start asking me about ear candling that I decided that I would look into it in greater depth. I had some patients who were planning on having the ear candling performed so I had them come into the office first. We took pictures of their ears with my video otoscope before and after the candling. Guess what??? There was no difference in the amount of wax in their ear canals. The candling didn’t help. My patients were astonished.

They told me that they had seen a lot of ear wax when they had cut open the ear candle. The wax that they actually had seen had been the wax from the candle itself.

There are documented cases of ear candling causing significant distress to the ear canals. This occurs when hot wax drips into the ear and there have been cases of burnt ear canals, burnt eardrums (requiring surgery to correct), infections, etc. There is a good article online that goes into greater detail about ear candling. It can be found at www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candling.html

So do I think that ear candling works? No, I do not. In fact, it can cause damage to the ear canals, eardrums, and other structures found in the ear. Not to mention that people have burnt their houses down while candling. In an upcoming article I will talk about the proper way to clean your ears. Until then……Good Hearing.

Dr. Eric L. Maxwell, Au.D, FAAA, was raised in St. George and spent a lot of time in the Cedar City in his youth. He studied Audiology at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah and earned a Master’s of Science degree in Audiology from the University of Utah. Upon graduating, Dr. Maxwell and his family moved to Tucson, Arizona where he practiced Audiology for five years. When an opportunity came to move to Cedar City, Dr. Maxwell jumped at the chance and have been back in Cedar City for the past 8 years. He loves the beautiful scenery, friendly people, and the community. Dr. Maxwell specializes in: