A reader asks about the efficacy of ear candling.
Question: What is your opinion about ear
candling?
Answer: Ear candling was devised centuries ago
when we did not have otoscopes, cerumen management
procedures or equipment, etc. It's methodology involves
the presupposition that you are indeed dealing with
earwax, which definitively is actually a complex of
cerumimous and sebaceous secretions arising from the
basal level of the epithelium.
The task was performed with the assumption that as the
oxygen burned at the outer end of the tube it melted and
'drew out' the earwax into a rolled tube of paper. A
very primitive approach, it worked as often as not.
But that was before the invention of the Q-tip(r), in
which case, man learned how to 'pack' earwax much deeper
into the ear, gathering up desquamated (dead) skin
cells, keratin and debris in the mix. Ear candling, in
such a situation, is simply ineffective, and risks
puncturing the tympanic membrane (eardrum).
In my opinion, there are several problems with ear
candling in today's hearing health climate:
1) It is an inefficient, even dangerous, procedure in
the hands of the inexperienced.
2) Since the advent of video otoscopy and sophisticated
cerumen management, it is wholly unnecessary today.
3) In many cases, we find septic infection (unknown to
the patient and often to the ear candler) that will not
be removed with candling, and yet needs to be
professionally removed to avoid poisoning the body
further. I cannot emphasize how important and prevalent
the problem of sepsis debris and bacteria occurs
today---which can be potentially lethal if left
untreated for long periods of time, especially when
underlying pseudomonas is harbored in the anaerobic
enviromment of impaction.
4) In the process of relying upon someone who would
actually use ear candling, one may overlook other
potentially serious ear pathology.
As you can tell, I am adamantly opposed to the practice
of candling in view of more modern means of cerumen
management. I cannot tell you how many patients who
experienced failed attempts at ear candling have come to
our offices months later when a serious problem was well
underway.
I hope this answers your question from the perspective
in which you are asking it. |
|
|
|
