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At a glance, ear cones look just like basic candles. However, the latter are not hollow, and they certainly do offer more than illumination. Ear cones, otherwise known as auricular candles, provide a number of health benefits.
Ear coning or candling goes way back. While only rediscovered in the late 1990s, the practice can be traced back to ancient Egyptians and Indians.
The benefits are timeless though. Ear candling can relieve a wide number of ear-related ailments, aside from its relaxation-inducing aspects. Ear candling can alleviate headaches, vertigo, migraines, sinusitis, tinnitus, post nasal drip, and neuralgia. This is an arrangement possible due to the proximity of the ear drum to the sinuses, Eustachian tubes, and the porous membranes leading to the brain. At any rate it can remove earwax, improve hearing, and balance ear pressure. Q-tips/cotton buds couldn’t do all of these.
Coning generates a vacuum in the ear canals, ejecting the cerumen, allergens, fungus and contaminants therein. After the treatment, these materials will have adhered to the hollow inside the cone.
A coning treatment lasts around 15 minutes an ear, or until the candle has burned down a safe distance from the patients head. After treatment has elapsed, the practitioner would slice open the candle to reveal a trail of debris inside.
It is imperative then that properly trained “candlers” or candling therapists carry out the task. As with any alternative therapies, candling bears all too real risks as much as benefits. Able spa operators, masseurs, and herbalists can carry out a treatment for as low as £20 a session.
Even so, do-it-yourself ear candling kits are available in selected health food stores across North America and Europe. Others can be ordered online. They cost as little as £2 and no more than £10 a pack. The use of metal plates and non-flammable paper sheets to protect the head from burns is recommended.
There are many types of ear candles to choose from. Many are now made of beeswax, on top of classic paraffin ear candles. Buyers can also choose from ear candles with cotton or muslin, any of which comprise the hollow cone under the wax.
Granted, the medical benefits of ear candles have yet to find universal cachet but multitudes are swearing by it. The streets of America alone are strewn with ear candling spas and clinics ready to accommodate clients. Already the acceptance of ear coning as a science is nigh.
