Experiment: How to be a human Tiki Torch! (..or ear candling)

I have been sitting on the results of this experiment for at least a month now. Finally writing it up.
Ear candling. What is it? Basically, you stick a special hollow candle in your ear and light the sucker on fire! Why would you want to do that? It is supposed to be beneficial for removing excess ear wax and other impurities from the ear and sinuses. I have read that it is supposed to be good for: drying up water in the ear, vertigo, improving hearing, general ear pluggyness and something about bacteria. Seemed exciting so I had to give it a go.

I was volunteering at the Kanata Wellness Expo and there was a booth there by Naturally You. They were offering a free trial where they would do one ear. I found the process to be very relaxing. Their staff were friendly and very informative.

The controversy.... I did some reading about ear candling and found that there were many claims that it was a hoax. That it did not actually remove any ear wax. Lucky for me right beside Naturally You happened to be an audiologist. She had a camera that viewed into the ear and showed the image on a tv screen. It was gross to see that one of my ears had a blackish wall of wax blocking the view to the back of my ear. EWWWW! Anyways, the proof is in the pudding or the candle tube in this case. After the 15 minute session as a human tiki, I went back to the audiologist's chair and we saw that the black wall of gross was gone. So there you go, it does in fact remove ear wax. There is a bunch of white powder residue left in the candle as well. I was told that it was impurities removed from my sinuses. I have not found any information to prove or disprove that statement.

My husband kept a close eye to make sure I didn't catch fire. Actually, I had to convince him that I would be safe holding the candle long enough for him to take a photo.
( We like to do hot things on our weekly date nights. hahaha! )

Being a curious experimental type of lady, I purchased a pack of candles over the internet so that I could try it out on myself again and on a couple of other people. What I learned: Fire is dangerous! Cover hair with a towel to protect it from rare but possible stray ashes. You also want to do this with someone you trust with your life. Seriously, you are in a vulnerable position as a candle holder.

My conclusion: Relaxing because of the warmth and laying still for a full 15-20 minutes per ear. Cool to see what kind of junk gets sucked out of your ear. I didn't feel much of a difference in my ear as far as feeling plugged up or hearing ability went. Fun because I like experiments and fire. There is so much controversy over this procedure. Safety concerns around fire and things possible dripping back into the ear, effectiveness of the procedure, quality of wax and candle. On the other side, we want to use less drugs/pharmaceuticals and help our bodies heal naturally, as they are designed to do.

I will probably do it again but won't make a habit of it.

I love to get new ideas for fun things to try and learn about. Please feel welcome to send me any suggestions.

These are our candles cut open afterwards to reveal ear wax and the mystery powder.
It was interesting to see how each ear on each person was different. 

 Alternate titles for this post: "Common baby light my fire", "Wanna see my earwax", "An inside look at ear candling" and last but not least, "You want to stick what in my ear?"