In ancient Egypt, ear coning, also known as ear candling, was used to help one hear the gods. In folk medicine and alternative medicine, ear coning is used to help remove earwax and toxins from a person's body, leading to better health.
Making and Using an Ear Cone
The ear cone or ear candle is not a candle, as most would tend to believe. The ear cone's appearance is often described as a "cotton candy stick" because of its shape. The cone is made from unbleached cotton that has been dipped in paraffin or beeswax and formed into a cone shape. Sometimes essential oils, such as rose oil, are added to the wax prior to dipping. The final length of an ear cone can be as long as 12 inches.
The procedure for ear coning is rather straightforward. The person who is to receive the treatment lies on his or her side, while the ear candler (the one who performs the coning) protects the ear by placing a paper plate or aluminum pie plate over the ear. This protection has a hole in the center and the cone is placed just inside the ear. The coning is used to help the eustachian tube (the tube that connects the middle ear to the back of the throat to help with drainage) open up and allow drainage. The cone is lit and burned until about 4 to 6 inches remain; this protects the sensitive inner ear. The ear candler then removes the cone and oftentimes will show the patient the residue that was pulled from the ear. The ear coning session can last up to 45 minutes, and most sessions will use two cones per ear.
Ear candlers recommend that an ear coning session should include three sessions set three to seven days apart every two to three years to help maintain ear health.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Ear Coning
People who have had a coning procedure done experience an unusual albeit pleasant sensation that relaxes. The coning melts earwax and creates a vacuum, which removes toxins that have accumulated in the eustachian tube. People often state that their hearing improves after treatment. Most claim to hear a popping or crackling as well as some heat during the process, but it does not harm the patient.
Ear coning creates an healthy atmosphere in the ears, sinus cavities and throat. Coning can also regulate the ear's pressure, thus relieving headaches, post nasal drip and sinusitis. It also can help restore a person's equilibrium.
There are those who call ear coning a pseudoscience and state that the coning does not create enough heat to melt earwax nor create a vacuum to pull out toxins. These people state that the residue that is shown in the tube is nothing more than the burned particles of the cone itself. There have been no medical studies as to the exact benefits of ear coning.
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