# Ear Candles and Colemics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 21, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558 "2005-07-21T23:49:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stuart\_Whitecloud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@Stuart\_Whitecloud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuart_Whitecloud)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/1 "2005-07-21T23:49:51Z")
Cecil may or may not be right that ear candles are a hoax and a fad. However, Cecil has no basis for describing colemics in the same breath. Keeping the colon clean has been a precept of ancient Taoist practice (see The Tao of Health, Sex, and Longevity by Reid). As one who has seen the expelled accumulations from the gut, I can attest that when properly used, colemics provide a first-rate detox. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/2 "2005-07-22T00:08:54Z")
Some of us prefer to entrust our health to science rather than to magic. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/3 "2005-07-22T01:46:47Z")
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, **Stuart** , we’re glad to have you with us. When you start a thread, it’s helpful to others if you provide a link to the column under discussion. Saves search time and helps keep us all on the same page. In this case, I presume, the column is : [How do “ear candles” work?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_098.html) No biggie, you’ll know for next time, and, as I say, welcome. BTW, there is a difference between fad and hoax. In the column on ear candles, Cecil says that colonic irrigation was also a fad. He doesn’t say or imply that colonic irrigation is a hoax. To the contrary, a search of the Archives would reveal his comments on colonic irrigation: [Does colonic irrigation do you any good?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a900525.html) in which he concludes that the chances of serious harm are minimal. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/4 "2005-07-22T03:35:02Z")
> [@Stuart Whitecloud](#): > > Keeping the colon clean has been a precept of ancient Taoist practice (see The Tao of Health, Sex, and Longevity by Reid). So? Any number of silly practices have a long history. As long as you can con someone into believing a practice works, it’ll continue. Doesn’t mean there is any real evidence the practice does work. > [@](#): > > As one who has seen the expelled accumulations from the gut, I can attest that when properly used, colemics provide a first-rate detox. You don’t know that exactly the same stuff wouldn’t have been expelled in the usual way anyway. Which is precisely what those who earn money from the practice rely upon. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/5 "2005-07-22T12:35:05Z")
Human beings have long been fascinated by their bowels and waste. The idea that feces must be bad for you (well, they smell awful) is common to a number of cultures. Currently, there is a resurgence in the idea that our colons (and other organs, like the liver and gallbladder) must be “flushed” regularly to remove toxins. This fad is based on superstition rather than science. I agree that in most cases, these “flushes” aren’t actively harmful, except for wasted money and promoting stress over illusory toxins. In some instances as Cecil noted, colonic irrigation can cause serious infections or death. [More on colonic irrigation.](http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/gastro.html) ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/6 "2005-07-22T13:06:22Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Human beings have long been fascinated by their bowels and waste. The idea that feces must be bad for you (well, they smell awful) is common to a number of cultures. Well, I hate to mention it, but Cecil has also covered (recently) [“Is coprophagia dangerous?”](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050610.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/7 "2005-07-22T16:58:07Z")
I had a bunch of colon biopsies to sign out this morning as part of my surgical pathology duties. One included a cecal biopsy (from the pouch-like area where the colon begins) and I momentarily read it as “Cecil biopsy”. 😃 Incidentally, I think the “proper” term is colonics, not colemics (the latter term suggests a particularly outspoken form of borborygmi). As to respecting other cultures’ health nuttiness, [here’s more](http://www.rocklintoday.com/news/templates/health_news.asp?articleid=2281&zoneid=7) on “culturally sensitive cleansing”. \*"Some people, she says, come under demonic possession. “They act crazy. They’ll lunge at you and spit on you. They’re the victims of black magic. Their bodies can’t take the weight of evil forces. They need someone with a lot of force and will power to counteract those forces. I can take it. I’m not afraid. I put them to sleep, and they wake up fine.”\* :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/8 "2005-07-22T18:46:23Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > …other organs, like the liver and gallbladder) must be “flushed” regularly to remove toxins. Trust me on this one but a liver flush (I can do it by having a salad or fried chicken at lunch) is a whole lot more fun (or less un-fun) when you don’t have an iffy gallbladder. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/9 "2005-07-22T19:25:35Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > “Cecil biopsy” Hey, you can have my _Triumph of the Straight Dope_ when you pry it from my cold dead hand. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/10 "2005-07-22T19:47:14Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > As to respecting other cultures’ health nuttiness I respect their right to believe in goofy shit. That doesn’t mean I have to respect the goofy shit itself. A subtle, but significant, distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/11 "2005-07-22T21:04:18Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I respect their right to believe in goofy shit. That doesn’t mean I have to respect the goofy shit itself. A subtle, but significant, distinction. I will defend to the death anyone’s right to believe in goofy shit. As long as I am free to debunk it and don’t have to pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/12 "2005-07-22T22:10:59Z")
Precisely. And the OP’s colon cleansing is, in a literal sense, supremely goofy shit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-candles-and-colemics/313558/13 "2005-07-24T15:29:51Z")
> [@Stuart Whitecloud](#): > > Keeping the colon clean has been a precept of ancient Taoist practice (see The Tao of Health, Sex, and Longevity by Reid). I’m surprised you didn’t mention the [definitive work](http://www.tedmills.com/bookshelf/images/taoofpooh.jpg) on the topic.