# Ear Wax Candles **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2004, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792 "2004-07-19T11:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/21 "2004-07-19T14:43:23Z")
I used to clean ears at a Doctor’s office pretty regularly and used a method similar to what Picker described. Apparantly, some people are pretty prodigous earwax manufacturers. I used a 50/50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and warm water inserted into the ear canal with a bulb syringe and stoppered with a loosely placed cotton ball. After about 10-15 minutes, I would gently irrigate the ear canal with a bulb syringe and plain water to rinse out the first solution and any debris. Sometimes I would get large balls of wax in colors ranging fro beige to yellow to black. Once I collected a small bug. It sounds like Picker, doing this fairly regularly, gets discolored water as opposed to lumps and clumps (or insects!). This is a good thing. Oh, I agree with the others that candling is bogus. It just doesn’t make sense that a small bit of heat a few inches from the ear can draw out some pretty tenacious and sticky earwax. I have also heard of the “fake ear” experiments mentioned by MrFantsyPants. If the method works just as well on fake and real ears, then it can’t really be all the useful. I understand the supposed “ear wax” contained in the candle is actually the collected wax and debris from the “candle” itself. I saw an ear candle and it seemed to be made of some kind of fancy waxed paper- duh. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/22 "2004-07-19T14:45:31Z")
[Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=67599) is my first ever post to the SDMB. I have quoted it below to save the hamsters. > [@](#): > > My friend Mindy is very into homeopathic medicine. She has studied it for years. Mindy is employed as the manager of the Vitamin Dept at a large health food store. She was at my house having dinner with Mrs. H and me and told us all about Ear Coning (also known as Ear Candling.) > > For the uninitiated, an ear candle is a narrow cone of waxed paper about twelve inches long. The narrow end of the cone is stuck snugly in your ear and the other end is lit by a “practitioner.” It is burnt until only an inch long nub is left. The procedure is said to remove wax, yeast and other “impurities” from one’s ears. > > Mindy and I argued back and forth about about this. I explained that there was no way that enough vacuum could be generated by a small firey cone to pull very viscous wax from ears. She countered that she had had it done and she could feel the wax being pulled from deep in her ear. She further argued that she had cut open the leftover nub and found it full of yeast and ear wax. I asked if the wax could have been candle wax and she firmly said that she knew the god damned difference between candle wax and ear wax and it was ear wax. > > We decided that she would come over the next night and we would conduct a little experiment. She thinks that I’m such a skeptic asshole sometimes and she wanted to prove to me that I was wrong. I volunteered to be “candled” as the first part of the experiment. Sure enough, the end of the nub was full of orange dust (yeast) and waxy stuff (ear wax.) > > I then asked that we try putting a candle in my fist and see what happened. With a big sigh and a roll of the eyes, Mindy agreed. After the candle was burned and the nub was opened …drum roll… the end of the nub was filled with orange dust and waxy stuff. This was quite possibly my greatest victory in the war against stupid bull shit. We burnt another candle in a Sprite can just for fun and got the same results. > > Mindy pulled all of the ear candles out of stock in her store and won’t sell them any more. When she is asked about them by a customer she tells our story. It makes me proud. > > Epilogue: Several months later there was an article in our local equivalent of the Reader about homeopathic medicine which mentioned ear candles. I recounted my story in a letter to the editor and they printed it. Someone looked me up in the phone book and called to say that she was glad that there were people like me in the world! Ear candles are a complete and total hoax. It is amazing that people believe in such foolishness when a very simple test can prove this. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/23 "2004-07-19T14:46:31Z")
> [@dre2xl](#): > > Sorry, that should have said: so blocked with ear wax that the doctor can’t SEE into the ear. Of course the doctor can remove it. A doctor said that about my (somewhat) newborn son and then cleaned his ears with an “ear loop”. It made both of his ears bleed. I got a new Doctor for him after that. ---
**Author:** ![PussyCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/22d042/32.png) [@PussyCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PussyCow)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/24 "2004-07-19T15:00:03Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > First, they go in the ears, not the nose. > Second, they don’t work. > Third, even if they did work, you’d have to stand on your head while these things did their work, and that’s just plain dangerous. > > She should try using a Nori instead. First, I agreed they probably don’t work. Second, the sinuses are all connected through the ears, nose, eyes, and throat. So clearing out one’e earwax _probably would_ affect the sinuses in their entirety. Ever heard of an ear, nose, and throat doctor? Ever wonder why they decided to lump those body parts together? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/25 "2004-07-19T15:04:50Z")
> [@lemon\_martini2](#): > > I thought this thread refered to candles made out of earwax… :wally …Now is that a possibility? Writer H. Allen Smith had a friend who was saving belly-button lint to stuff a pillow. He wanted one so that when people came to visit he could casually point to the pillow and say, “See that pillow over there. Stuffed with belly-button lint.” It’s nice to have a goal in life. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/26 "2004-07-19T15:18:10Z")
> [@PussyCow](#): > > First, I agreed they probably don’t work. > Second, the sinuses are all connected through the ears, nose, eyes, and throat. So clearing out one’e earwax _probably would_ affect the sinuses in their entirety. > Ever heard of an ear, nose, and throat doctor? Ever wonder why they decided to lump those body parts together? :dubious: If you’re saying, “In the world where ear candling works by making a homeopathic change to the nature of your head, it should be able to clear out your sinuses, too, because they’re real close to the ears,” then sure. It should also take care of acne and dandruff, too. Might even drive out demons. On the other hand, if you’re saying “Sticking a burning piece of paper in your ear will suck snot out of your ears,” you may want to read the previous replies to this thread which reported factual analysis of the situation which indicates that this process, indeed, doesn’t work worth beans. I realize you said they probably don’t work, but I’m having trouble connecting points the First and Second. However, if you do change your mind and decide that ear candling does work, give it a try and let us know if it does anything. ---
**Author:** ![PussyCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/22d042/32.png) [@PussyCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PussyCow)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/27 "2004-07-19T15:34:16Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > :dubious: > If you’re saying, “In the world where ear candling works by making a homeopathic change to the nature of your head, it should be able to clear out your sinuses, too, because they’re real close to the ears,” then sure. It should also take care of acne and dandruff, too. Might even drive out demons. > > On the other hand, if you’re saying “Sticking a burning piece of paper in your ear will suck snot out of your ears,” you may want to read the previous replies to this thread which reported factual analysis of the situation which indicates that this process, indeed, doesn’t work worth beans. > > I realize you said they probably don’t work, but I’m having trouble connecting points the First and Second. However, if you do change your mind and decide that ear candling does work, give it a try and let us know if it does anything. As I said in my first post, I tend to believe the mass of posters here that they **DO NOT** work. However, I have not tried them myself, nor scientifically tested them myself. So I will not dismiss them outright. But I repeat, I _believe_ they do **not** work. Particularly because of what MrFantsyPants wrote: > [@](#): > > MrFantsyPants We tried these a while ago out of curiosity after a friend gushed about them. After using them, she said, you can cut them open and see all the wax they removed. Problem is, if you burn them in a fake tin-foil ear, you get the same gunk inside after. And my ears yielded just as much gunk as ever. My other point is that the ears, nose, and throat is connected via the sinuses, and through experience have found that when I have a bad cold and am stuffed up, so are my ears. I therefore suppose that if one was experiencing cronic sinus congestion a remedy _may_ be to have your ears cleaned out, i.e. remove the wax, with whatever means. I would certainly choose an ear wax removal kit or doctor over the candle, because I _think_ the candle is a bunch of hooey. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/28 "2004-07-19T15:35:50Z")
> [@PussyCow](#): > > Second, the sinuses are all connected through the ears, nose, eyes, and throat. Only if you’re willing to get rid of those pesky, useless eardrums. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/29 "2004-07-19T15:48:20Z")
**WILAS** I had to get one ear syringed out by a doctor-type once because it was completely blocked and I couldn’t hear out of that ear. Since then I use the earwax drops irregularly (a couple three times a year, or when I notice a lot of gunk. Lots of camping and swimming seems to make things worse). The something-peroxide drops are just a minor annoyance as you keep you head tilted to one side for a couple minutes while the wax dissolves, then repeat for the other side. I use some tissues to wipe up the ooze that pours out afterwards, and usually do it just before showering so I can clean it all off. Just go to the pharmacy and ask them for the ear wax removal kits, and follow the directions. Repeat as desired (though I’m sure it’s possible to overdo it). ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/30 "2004-07-19T15:52:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Second, the sinuses are all connected through the ears, nose, eyes, and throat. So clearing out one’e earwax probably would affect the sinuses in their entirety. Um… no. The outer ear (where the wax is) doesn’t usually connect to the middle ear ,where the “ear bones”, commonly called the hammer anvil and stirrup in grade school, are located. There’s this little thing called an eardrum, you see The middle ear is connected to the PHARYNX (in the throat), not the sinuses in the face, by the [Eustachian tube](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/9308.htm), a soft tissue structure that tracks under the bones of the underside of the skull, and never penetrates the bone. The facial sinuses, on the other hand are structures surrounded by and within the bones of the front of the skull, which are not as close to the ears, anatomically, as they might seem to a layman. Sadly, the Eustachian tube twists and turns in 3 dimensions, so you rarely see an image of its complete path from ear to throat in books or on the web. It would be actually be very difficult for there to be a connection between the ear and the facial sinuses: though the mastoid bone around the ear canal is thick (and actually filled with air cells, which may be the souce of your confusion) the bones of the side of the skull are flat, _very_ thin (the temporal bone can be as thin a s a sheet of construction paper) and dense. The facial structures (muscles, etc) are very mobile so a soft-tissue tunnel through them would be complex and hard to keep open. have you ever seen or felt a blocked or swollen tube in that region? If there was on, you’s see it. Eustachian problems are not uncommon The sinuses, likewise do not normally connect with the orbits of the eyes, and if they do, it’s usually Bad News: the result of a trauma or disease. > [@](#): > > Ever heard of an ear, nose, and throat doctor? Ever wonder why they decided to lump those body parts together? Because the anatomy of the head, and all its variants is complicated, and mastering the anatomy of any one of those parts alone along wouldn’t make much of a specialty. Why not combine several parts that share the same underlying knowledge, and are all affected by some of the commonest diseases of mankind, like upper respiratory ttract infections. In fact, my descriptions above are very simplified, and considering how long it’s been my ENT clinical rotations in medical school, I’m sure I left a room for a few minor technical quibbles. However, my basic point stands, and ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/31 "2004-07-19T16:03:08Z")
> [@Bewildebeest](#): > > Many times. Its unpleasant, but not really painfull. The doctor uses a big syringe that looks like a caulking gun 😃 and injects warm water into your ear. There is a loud rushing sound. There is some slight discomfort due to the pressure. Then everything sounds VERY LOUD! I may be a freak, but I found it kind of pleasant and uncomfortable at the same time. Obviously having water forced into your ear is not the greatest feeling, but the inside of my ears had been itchy for a l-o-o-o-n-g time, and the warm water relieved that, which felt so good. It took about 10 minutes of walking until the remainder of the water suddenly came rushing out, and after that everything seemed quite loud for a time. My ears are itchy again, so I’m hoping my doc will suggest I get it done when I’m there next. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/32 "2004-07-19T16:17:27Z")
- - - Of course, nobody has yet posted the most important link of all: [http://buttcandle.com/](http://buttcandle.com/) ```auto ``` ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/33 "2004-07-19T17:29:51Z")
> [@DougC](#): > > However, if you think what would come out of an ear candle is gross, check out the butt candle. Actually, I think that **PussyCow** might beg to differ… > [@](#): > > However, if you think what would come out of an ear candle is gross, check out the butt candle. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/34 "2004-07-19T17:38:37Z")
Of course, the **actual** quote by **DougC** was: > [@](#): > > - > - > - Of course, nobody has yet posted the most important link of all: [http://buttcandle.com/](http://buttcandle.com/) > > ```auto > > ``` Yes, I am a tool… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/35 "2004-07-19T17:56:50Z")
That website sometimes changes from [http://www.buttcandle.com](http://www.buttcandle.com) to [http://www.buttflamethrower.com](http://www.buttflamethrower.com) with little or no warning, depending on what you’ve eaten. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/36 "2004-07-19T18:12:05Z")
I checked some drugstores here and they don’t carry ‘ear cleaning kits’. How about I do it with a dropper? What is the exact technique? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/37 "2004-07-19T18:18:33Z")
Check in the baby supply section and see if they have a 2 tsp plastic syringe for oral medications. It should have a fairly innocuous nozzle on it. Get one of those, get a cup of some sort. Put some towels on the floor around your bathroom sink (or do this in the shower). Fill the cup with fairly warm water. Fill the syringe. Stick it in your ear. You may need to pull the back edge of the ear away from your head to straighten out the ear canal. Squirt the water into your ear. Start slow until you find out whether or not your ear is sensitive to this sort of thing. Unless it feels/sounds like there’s a rocket going off in your head, you missed the canal. Literally, rinse/repeat as needed. Check every once in a while to see if there’s a clot of wax sitting right at the opening and get rid of it. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/38 "2004-07-19T18:26:37Z")
> [@MightyGirl](#): > > I checked some drugstores here and they don’t carry ‘ear cleaning kits’. You can try [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/search.html/ref=xs_ap_l_xglna/002-2714529-1214400?index=hpc&node=3760931&keywords=ear%20wax%20removal). I assume they have some way of taking £’s or €’s. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/39 "2004-07-19T18:36:44Z")
Is that regular water? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792/40 "2004-07-19T18:39:10Z")
> [@picker](#): > > You can try [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/search.html/ref=xs_ap_l_xglna/002-2714529-1214400?index=hpc&node=3760931&keywords=ear%20wax%20removal). > > I assume they have some way of taking £’s or €’s. The question is, do they take pesos? 🙂 I am in the Dominican Rep. I don’t want to buy it if I can get a good substitute, otherwise yes, darn, I will have to buy abroad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-wax-candles/255792.md?page=3)