Ear Candling...It Actually Works!

Today Faye, Gary, Carole and I went to a pot luck at Ken and Pat's house. There were 13 of us at the dinner and the food was spectacular. After eating like pigs at the trough we carried on with much lively conversation until our hostess brought out a paper bag filled with special candles used for removing wax from your ears. Apparently this is quite an old custom and three of our group had done it before. Hearing about this a few weeks back drove me to do some research on the internet where I read many differing opinions. The theory is that the candle, which is hollow in the center, creates a vacuum when burning and draws the ear wax out of the ear and up into the candle.

Some people swear it works, some say it's dangerous, some say the only thing that ends up in the candle is candle wax. Tonight I saw the proof of whether or not ear candling works. It definitely does.

We chose the weakest one to try it out on first...he was one of the husbands who had consumed a couple more drinks than the rest of us. Our hostess provided a package of ear candles (one for each ear to be used one at a time), a lighter, a snowman paper plate with a hole in the middle, and a pan of water. I asked if this was to be poured on the victim if he caught fire but that wasn't the case. It's for dousing the candle when you're finished ear candling.

The victim, I mean Gary, lay on his side on the sofa and a bit of baby oil was dropped in his ear to loosen the wax. Then the pointed end of the candle was carefully inserted in his ear. The paper plate was set on the candle just above his head so that none of the wax would fall on him. The candle was lit and we all sat watching with rapt attention as it slowly, very slowly burned down. It doesn't drip but just turns black at the top. We'd chosen to let it burn to the half way point.

There wasn't much laughter during our experimental run because we were kind of nervous. But Gary was very much at ease and kept us informed about how he was feeling...he heard crackling once in a while but otherwise felt nothing. When the candle was removed and opened, lo and behold, there was indeed a fair amount of ear wax in it.

Now we all wanted to have it done. I was next and Faye was my candler. This is what I felt...nothing at first, then some pleasant warmth inside my ear plus slight crackling, then later a gentle feeling of something moving inside my ear. When we removed the candle and checked inside there were rather large clumps of ear wax. This was the biggest proof yet that ear candling works.

Then it was Faye's turn and I was the candler. Since one of the other men was getting his done at the same time we went into the bedroom to do Faye's. By this time we were so nonchalant about what we were doing that we got the giggles. Lying on a bed with flaming candle plugged into your ear does look silly.

Pat, our hostess, was on the phone explaining to her daughter that we were having a party and 2 of her guests were laying in different beds with burning candles in their ears. Faye called out, "Tell her this is what old people do when they give up sex!". Now the giggles were getting out of control and I worried she'd get burnt.

The wife of the man who had just finished having his ears candled came in to show us the results and we had a new winner. Never in my life did I think a day would come when I'd be examining someone else's ear wax and oohing and aahing over the amount!

In all seriousness, ear candling does work but I can see where there might be a slight cause for concern. One of the items I found on the internet stated that some people suffered burns to their eardrums when candle wax fell into the hollow candle and down into the ear. From what I saw tonight, these candles don't burn that way but maybe it's possible.

In any case, it was an new experience. It doesn't compare in the least to sex but it was fun.