So I am clueless, but what are they for???

[HokieMum]

I am so curious, and too shy to ask the folks at the store...what are the "ear candles" for???

[moon_goddess]

ear candles are to help clear your ears from any build up. it is a great cleanse. my dh and i have both done it when we think we are getting too much fluid or build-up. be very careful when doing this...always have a person help you.
HTH

[HokieMum]

What do you do with them...? Do you put the hot wax in your ears? (Can you tell I am fascinated by this...?) People are always saying, "don't put anything in your ears..." Maybe they just mean q-tips...? (and dried beans too!)

[Basylica]

I've had this done once...
They arn't candles like a typical taper like you'd think...
they are basically a long long funnel of wax covered paper.
You light the bigger end and insert the smaller end into your ear. It won't actually go into your canal like a q-tip would or anything.

The flame creates gentle pressure and "draws" the earwax and gunk into the tube. how it works exactally, i'm still not sure
But I do know that the flame creates pressure and thus draws up the gunk.

You need to have someone (perferably 2 I think) do this FOR you though, because you need to cut the burnt paper away to keep the ashes and such from falling on you, and keep a wet cloth and bowl of water handy incase of sparks and the like.

Once the flame gets close to your ear as comfortably can be tolerated, you pull it out and put out the flame. Then you can cut the tube open and be amazed by the gunk!!

It truely is a weird process though...hehe.

[oneotamama]

can you just use the same ear candle once?

[Basylica]

yup, there isnt anything left once you use it...most of it is burnes away

sorry pumping at keyboard

[Eustacia]

The physics involved is the formation of a vacuum in the funnel. I've never tried it but dh and I have always wanted to give it a whirl.

[LaffNowCryLater]

I've never tried one, but I saw on a show once that they burnt one w/o putting it in someone's ear and it had the same 'gunk' that showed up when they did put it in someone's ear.

I still would like to try one though....

[avakitty]

I did this on my dh a while back and almost caught the couch on fire! :LOL
I really think the 'gunk' was just the wax stuff from the candle when it burned down.. it looks the same as ear wax does and my dh said it didnt help his build up problem at all...

[HokieMum]

Huh....now I know! Thanks ladies!

[Mama2ABCD]

i've done the ear candles a few times, and my dh was convinced it wasn't my ear wax in the last remnants of the candle, but the wax from the candle itself. i was fascinated this stuff was possibly in my ear! we burnt one without the ears to see what the residue would be and yep, it was a hunk of wax that looked like the stuff that was in my candle! about the same amount too.

But, that burning candle in my ear feels very soothing!!

[ComaWhite]

We did the same thing too, burn one in the ear, the other all by itself.
Both had the large clumps of wax in the tunnel, but the one that was in my ear had a powdery wax in the tunnel too.
If you get the seal/suction properly, ocasionally you can actually feel matter moving through your ear canal and out.

[HokieMum]

OK, so now I am fascinated, and may have to try this...DH may think me batty, but it is worth a try!!!

[sha_lyn]

the heat and smoke are very soothing too.

Also you can get herbal ones for different problems.

What I have notice is that at the very bottom of the candle Iwill get an orangy substance that looks and feels more like dried ear wax, the middle substance will be dry and powdery and the substance closest to the top seems like typical bees wax.