FDA: Your Ear Is Not a Candlestick

Call me naïve, but I was taken aback by the FDA's recent warning about the use of ear candles.

Ear. Candles?

This immediately evoked images of that scene in Shrek where he pops a perfect earwax-and-hair cast out of his external ear canal and lights it up for a candle-lit meal. Surely that doesn't really happen, does it?

Thankfully no, but the reality is not much better. Ear candles are fabric tubes soaked in paraffin or beeswax that a person then places in his or her ear and starts on fire. Native Americans supposedly used ear candles for purification ceremonies. Modern-day manufacturers of these tubes claim a variety of potential benefits, including relief of earache pain and sinus pressure, greater emotional stability and an enhanced sense of well-being.

A flammable object placed inside the human body and started on fire -- what could possibly go wrong?

Apparently, dare I say obviously, plenty. Reported injuries include facial burns, eardrum punctures and unintended pyrotechnics, to name a few.

To make matters worse, at present there is no solid scientific evidence that they work. At all. For anything.

Earlier this month the FDA issued warnings to three manufacturers of ear candles, basically telling them to prove that their products are safe and effective before promoting them further. It also warned consumers to steer clear of these products until such proof is produced.

Although I'm generally pretty open to alternative medicine, this is one product that seems to do more harm than good. Props to the sometimes-sluggish FDA for making the manufacturers prove their case.

Photo credit: Per Ola Wiberg ~ OFF Computer crash