So, I basically lit my head on fire the other night.
Coastal Point photos • Darin & Jamie McCann
Point Editor Darin McCann goes through the ear canal cleansing process with little to no discomfort. What was discomforting, however, was the debris that purportedly came from his ear.
In my never-ending quest to fight off my sinus problems once and for all, I decided to follow up my experience with the neti pot by tackling ear candling — another alternative method to clearing up the sinus cavities.
As a little background, ear candling is also known as auricular candling or coning. Basically, you stick one end of a hollow candle into your ear canal, light the other and hope that the suction created clears out your ears and removes dirt and toxins.
As for the practice of ear candling, I’d highly suggest you have another person assist you. Allow me to explain.
The person receiving the treatment lies down with his or her head angled sideways to allow one ear to stick straight up in the sky. The person helping attaches a paper plate to the candle, about a third of the way up from the bottom of the candle. This plate will catch melted wax and any other debris that comes out of the top of the candle.
Once smoke starts coming out the bottom of the candle, the candle can be placed in the person’s ear. This is where it all starts.
To be honest, it’s a strange feeling. Once the smoke started firing into my ear canal, I could feel a strong pressure — not enough to cause pain, or even discomfort, just enough that you know it’s there.
As the candle began to burn down, I could hear something not unlike the sound you hear when a seashell is pressed against your ear. The further down the candle burnt, the louder the noise became. Again, it wasn’t enough to cause pain or discomfort, but you knew constantly that it was there.
As the flame got closer, I could hear it crackling. There was a certain warmth that came into my ear as the candle burned more and more, but it never got to the point when it was painful.
The first half of the candle seemed to take a long time to burn, but the bottom half went much faster. The crackling sounds grew more frequent, and there was enough smoke coming out of the top of the candle that I had thought for a second that a new pope had been named.
Once the flame burnt down to the paper plate, the candle was extinguished, and my wife cut it open to take a peek inside.
Yeah, that was gross.
There were a whole lot of impurities staring back at me, and my wife gave me a stare that suggested she was thinking twice about marrying a man with these kind of serious hygiene deficiencies. To be honest, I was kind of wondering the same thing as I stared at the ruins of the candle carcass.
The experience
As I said before, this was not a painful experience. While it was not as outright nasty as the neti pot experience, it also wasn’t quite as dramatic a difference in my sinuses. Yes, things seemed to happen in my sinus cavities, but I can’t be certain that wasn’t just from tilting my head to the side for so long.
I’ve read on various Web sites that many doctors have a problem with ear candling. There have reportedly been a few cases of people having fires or burning themselves in the process, but I’d point out that people have also burned themselves with coffee and matches. Use a partner, and I really don’t think you’ll have an issue.
As for my own take, I’d say that it is incredibly relaxing, and it did pop both my ears, something I need done after every sinus season. For that alone, I’d consider the experience a success.
To try it out for yourself, swing by Wholesome Habits or Good Earth Market. Ask someone for help at either location, and they’ll walk you through it step-by-step.