Ear Candles in Pharmacies

[Richard]

Ear Candles in Pharmacies is not just a bad notion, it's reality. This from Sydney Australia.

[Richard]

https://www.tgasime.health.gov.au/SIME/ARTG/ARTGPublicWeb.nsf/0118e649f21529bdca256996000e1dfe/bd5a718d25a7c4f5ca25723e00554ae7?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,133556

[Richard]

http://www.biosun.com.au/

BioSun Hopi Ear Candles
Importer & Distributor for Australia & NZ

Do NOT use Ear Candles if you have:

* A perforated eardrum
* Tympanotomy tube implants
* All kinds of inflammations of the ear
* Skin diseases in and around the ear
* Allergic reactions to the ingredients in the form of spontaneous itchiness have occasionally occurred.

The application of Ear candles is at your own risk and responsibility, but if you follow the instructions carefully, the application will be simple and safe.

NOTE: No therapeutic claims are made in relation to the use of Biosun Ear Candles.

[Zep]

I think this sort of thing might be in violation of some sort of safety regulations here in NSW. Try Fair Trading...

Here we go! NSW Fair Trading Act, para 44(e), and para 49 (http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/fullhtml/inforce/act+68+1987+FIRST+0+N#pt.5-sec.44)

[a_unique_person]

I can't believe the chemist shop these days. Dick Wick Magnetic products, acupuncuture snoring rings, Homoeopathic remedies for everything.

I would assert that snoring treatments that do nothing are a health risk, as snoring can cover up serious medical conditions. If people are decieved that they are treating a problem when they aren't, it could have serious consequences.

It also just genearlly legitimises quack medical treatments in the minds of the general public when chemist shops sell this rubbish, undermining medical treatment and practice.

[Z]

Here in Cincinnati, ear candles are still pretty commonly used. Being an outsider, I was skeptical about them from the first time I heard of them, and I've refused to even try them. But almost everyone around me swears by them.

Of course, they also swear by their Torahs and Bibles, think TNA Impact is a reality show, and find NASCAR racing to be sophisticated enertainment... and that chili is properly made with cinnamon and chocolate, but not chili powder or peppers...

[pipelineaudio]

Ear candling is a very popular practice with the guys who believe in magic math audio like here http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=94903

[El Greco]

As a pharmacist I know very well how many useless products exist in a pharmacy. However, there is a market for all these things and as long as they are not dangerous they are nothing else but a small part of a vast array of useless products. They are all approved by each country's health departments, and perhaps with a reason: If people want them you can't ban them simply on the grounds of being useless. If this were the case a lot of other products should be banned as well: The vast majority of cosmetics, many "light" foods, lots of "exercise devices" that make false promises, etc. Even mediums and astrologers should not be allowed to practice.

It's sad but true: As long as the skeptics are a minority there is no way that such products will be banned. You all live in democracies where the majority decides for what they want.

[Z]

As a pharmacist I know very well how many useless products exist in a pharmacy. However, there is a market for all these things and as long as they are not dangerous they are nothing else but a small part of a vast array of useless products. They are all approved by each country's health departments, and perhaps with a reason: If people want them you can't ban them simply on the grounds of being useless. If this were the case a lot of other products should be banned as well: The vast majority of cosmetics, many "light" foods, lots of "exercise devices" that make false promises, etc. Even mediums and astrologers should not be allowed to practice.

It's sad but true: As long as the skeptics are a minority there is no way that such products will be banned. You all live in democracies where the majority decides for what they want.

And if you carry this scenario out to its logical conclusion, we'd have to do away with all those toys that are just repaints of other toys (Transformers come to mind)... :D

[Blue Wode]

Ear Candles in Pharmacies is not just a bad notion, it's reality.

As a pharmacist I know very well how many useless products exist in a pharmacy. However, there is a market for all these things and as long as they are not dangerous


But ear candles can be dangerous…


I know many ENTs who have treated patients with ear drum injuries due to hot wax flowing down the ear canal. (I've treated two patients for burns due to candles.)

Ear Candling Exposed
By otolaryngologist Douglas Hoffman, MD

http://www.doctorhoffman.com/candling.htm




And this link provides colour photographs of the tympanic membrane after liquid wax has dripped onto it from an ear candle:


This case study, contributed by Richard Harris, Ph.D., FAAA, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, is presented to indicate that the practice of ear candling is not without risk.

Untoward otological and audiological consequences of ear candling
http://www.rcsullivan.com/www/forum/harris/candle.htm




Despite the above, there’s at least one MD in the UK who seems to believe that ear candling is a bit of a cure-all:
http://freespace.virgin.net/ahcare.qua/index5.html

(Don't forget to check out his sections on ‘Ear Candling in Cancer Therapy’ and ‘Ear Candling and Auto-Immune Diseases’.)

Does anyone know if the GMC turns a blind eye to such quack practices?

[El Greco]

But ear candles can be dangerous…

Not more dangerous than a lot of other OTC products.

And frankly, in a society where cigarettes and alcohol are sold freely, I don't think that ear candles should be a priority for those who seek to remove health frauds.

Even if the JREF itself could appoint legislators and health officials to take care of all such cases, very few things could be done. The society as a whole is like a little kid who must be persuaded to eat healthily and avoid junk food: It just can't happen before the kid grows up a little.

[Blue Wode]

El Greco, according to Dr George Lewith, head of the complementary medicine research unit, Southampton Medical School (UK)…


Apparently both the Canadians and the Americans have officially banned the sale of ear-candles as the adverse reactions seem to far outweigh the possible benefits — although they remain available over the internet.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/complementary_medicine/article575485.ece




Here in Cincinnati, ear candles are still pretty commonly used.


Presumably, they're not being bought from pharmacies.


ETA:
Link to Health Canada's Position on Ear Candling (mentions the USA too):
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/iyh-vsv/med/ear-oreille_e.html

[El Greco]

That's a good thing, but apparently USA and Canada are the exception.

Are they now available only over the Internet in USA and Canada ? You can't find them in health stores, supermarkets, etc ?

[Z]

You know, I've never even looked for them... I don't specifically remember ever seeing them in pharmacies, but we all know my memory is pretty rotten.

I think that I saw them at one time in Wild Oats - which was also an outlet for Bach flower remedies, homeopathy, and other woo-cure-alls. But I haven't been over there in a year or more.

[dogjones]

Not more dangerous than a lot of other OTC products.

And frankly, in a society where cigarettes and alcohol are sold freely, I don't think that ear candles should be a priority for those who seek to remove health frauds.

Even if the JREF itself could appoint legislators and health officials to take care of all such cases, very few things could be done. The society as a whole is like a little kid who must be persuaded to eat healthily and avoid junk food: It just can't happen before the kid grows up a little.

Dude, cigarettes and alcohol are recreational drugs. They don't purport to give health benefits.

[Lisa Simpson]

That's a good thing, but apparently USA and Canada are the exception.

Are they now available only over the Internet in USA and Canada ? You can't find them in health stores, supermarkets, etc ?

I saw them in a vitamin store, maybe a year ago.

[tkingdoll]

Dude, cigarettes and alcohol are recreational drugs. They don't purport to give health benefits.

Red wine makers have been flogging the stuff on the back of (imaginary?) health benefits for years.

[SphereGuy]

How do you make candles out of ears?

[Lynx2174]

How do you make candles out of ears?

Earwax, of course.

[Luciana]

I never saw this in any pharmacy around here, and more, I had never heard about! At first I thought it was a joke concerning Shrek! Some googling dismissed that idea. Man, one doesn't need to be a skeptic to find that one utterly ridiculous. I hope.

[pipelineaudio]

You can find ear candling stuff anywhere there are audiophiles, anywhere in the world

[DRBUZZ0]

The apparent mechanism of ear candles which is why they supposedly work is that they create suction which draws wax out of your ear. And if you cut them open you find they are full of nasty gunky wax. Only it didnt come from your ear, because they're like that anyways after burning, even if you don't burn them in your ear.

Okay, so you think suction on your ear will somehow get the wax out? Well, fair enough.. a flame may create some by convection, but why not just hook that sucker up to a big ole shop vac? Note: Don't actually do this, it could blow your ear drum out.

besides, do you really think pulling a mild vacuum is going to pull anything out of a one-ended crevis like your ear? Especially something as gunky as earwax?

It's true that earwax can be a problem, if you get way too much of it. It has (some) antibacterial properties and stuff, but having a load of it in there just gums up the works and can cause infection or hearing loss.

But it's not that hard to take care of. Your ear has a "conveyor" type thing going which usually means you don't have to get too deep in there to get it cleaned. And if it's gunked up *that* badly there are products for that... or you could see your doctor if it's really causing problems.

But what the hell the logic there is behind sticking a candle in there? beats the hell out of me.


The reason they are sold though... well, because there is demand. Maybe if people were better informed there wouldn't be ;-)

[Blue Wode]

The apparent mechanism of ear candles which is why they supposedly work is that they create suction which draws wax out of your ear.


Not according to this doc in the UK:


Ear candling is a powerful means to cleans and strengthen the whole person; to "burn off" the accumulation of one-sided element qualities; to help re-balance a person's energies.

The way it achieves this is by the addition of a lot of heat to an isolated part of that energy field. The particular circumstances of the heat delivery to the aura causes a process of implosion within the air column. Implosion is nature's own, radial-axial motion, which can be defined as convergent, contracting, consolidating, creative, integrating and formative.

So, let's get "cleaned up" and "energized".

Let's do more ear candling, and be amazed!

- snip-

Questions, Answers, Applications, Instructions for use
What it is, how you can benefit and simple instructions so you can do this at home are all contained in this leaflet.

The Authenticity of the Hopi Candle
It now turns out that the story of how ear candling was "rediscovered" by the West in the rituals of the Native American Hopi Indians has been made up. They have never heard of ear candling and they certainly have not made any candles bearing the Hopi name.

Ear Candling Explained
How ear candling really works and how it fits in with the principles of Active Health is explained here. It shows the endless possibilities of a simple and safe procedure like ear candling.

Ear Candling: The Next Step
A further explanation, detailed in its simplicity, of how and where ear candling fits into the whole of life. It will show how Nature's own most powerful cleaning method has been set to work through the proper use of ear candles.

Ear Candling - The Debris
What is the meaning of the debris left in the bottom of the candle? Does it tell us something about the effect the candle has had? Is there any relation to the candle itself?

Ear Candling in Cancer Therapy
What are the properties of Ear Candling that can be of great benefit in the treatment of cancer? Is it a crazy idea to burn a hollow candle in your ear as an alternative to burning or poisoning a cancerous tumor?

Ear Candling and Allergy
Understanding the real origins of allergies and the powerful impact of ear candling on the human system, it is not surprising to have the two linked and to examine how ear candling will be a tremendous help in overcoming this growing Western medical problem.

Ear Candling and Auto-Immune Diseases
Bringing together our knowledge about the immunological process and the effects of ear candling, it becomes very obvious how this ancient healing method has a major part to play in the modern disease phenomena. Take a fresh look at the way illness occurs and find a successful way towards health.

Aura Changes and Ear Candling
Further explanation to the effects of ear candling on the physical body is supplied by an understanding of the energetic field in which the physical body is being created. Knowing how this creative process occurs allows us to visualise the powerful impact of ear candling on this very process.

Ear Candling - Observations and Attempting to Explain
At the Ear Candling Conference simple observation did away with the "suction" theory of ear candling. New Biology opened another door to possibly explain the seen effects in the body and, in general terms, modern research shows us how these effects created by the fire at the top of the candle can be transferred to the person.



And…


Ear Candling Training
Would you like to become an Accredited Ear Candling Practitioner?
We run regular 2 day courses

-snip-




More:
http://freespace.virgin.net/ahcare.qua/index5.html


And yet…


UK doctors must make sure the information they provide to patients is evidence-based and up to date with current scientific knowledge. GMC rules have always stated that "information must be factual and verifiable".

‘The GMC is right to come down hard on doctors who wrongly prescribe complementary medicine’
Edzard Ernst
Tuesday, November 16, 2004, The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,1352030,00.html




Is the GMC asleep?

[robinson]

http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/article_detail.asp?article_id=1501.

Good photos of before and after ear candle.

[DRBUZZ0]

oh great. As opposed to the suction idea which has limited and inacurate logical ground to stand on, they started with the whole "rebalancing" stuff and how it can help with the problems of "Western" medicine - something that's totally bull. Lovely

[petra10]

I have never heard of this in my life.When I first read the thread title I thought it was something designed for Halloween!
Cant say I have seen any ear candles around Glasgow but I shall be asking in Boots to see what they say.
The only benefits from sticking a candle in your ear would just be a warming in the ear,which would of course soften any earwax.


Still think the kids would buy them for halloween. :)

[robinson]

Double blind test with ear candles have shown they are effective in transferring currency from one person to another.

[DRBUZZ0]

I suppose they could be useful in some circumstances. For example you are candling your ear when all of a sudden the power goes out. But then again, they could be a lot of trouble too. For example, if you're candling your ear and a gasket on the gas line to a nearby stove breaks...

[Blue Bubble]

What I have difficulty understanding is why there are not more injuries resulting from using these awful things. Surely there's got to be some hot wax dripping down and reaching at least the outer skin of the ear, if not actually getting as far as the internals of the ear. Or does the wax simply adhere to the inside walls of the candle ?

And how far down do they allow the candles to burn ?

:confused:

And no, I'm not going to try this out myself.

[Bikewer]

I frequently listen to "Doctor Zorba", the NPR call-in fellow. Mostly, his advice is pretty good, though I think he's a mite soft on "alternative" medicines.

However, someone called in asking about ear candling. Zorba had never heard of these things. He asked what you did with them.
The caller replied that you set them on fire and put them in your ear.
Zorba laughed uncontrollably for several minutes.

Shades of the old Bob Newhart "Sir Walter Raleigh" skit.

[The Atheist]

https://www.tgasime.health.gov.au/SIME/ARTG/ARTGPublicWeb.nsf/0118e649f21529bdca256996000e1dfe/bd5a718d25a7c4f5ca25723e00554ae7?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,133556

?/Eh

I thought the whole point of the TGA was to ensure that products labelled as therapeutic actually had to have some therapeutic properties. Obviously I've read it all wrong.

[BenBurch]

Now, a therapy involving heat could work for some things...

A hair dryer has often been cited as a good way of dealing with an earache, and I have heard from steel mill workers that sometimes being near the molten steel is enough to melt their ear wax. But clearly candles do nothing.

[technoextreme]

But it's not that hard to take care of. Your ear has a "conveyor" type thing going which usually means you don't have to get too deep in there to get it cleaned. And if it's gunked up *that* badly there are products for that... or you could see your doctor if it's really causing problems.

The treatment isn't that bad to have your ears cleaned. The doctor basically blasted my ear with water.:)

[robinson]

When I was a kid my grandmother would blow cigarette smoke in my ear to stop an earache. Don't know if the nicotine had some effect, or if it was placebo, but it worked.