FDA Warns About Ear Candles and Ear Injuries

This article summarizes a notification from the United States Food and Drug Administration about ear candles and the risk of serious injury. On February 20, 2010, the FDA posted a notice to consumers and healthcare providers that it considers the use of ear candles dangerous. According to the FDA, ear candles pose a risk of serious injury to those who use them.

As explained in our article on ear candles elsewhere on this website, an ear candle is a hollow cone about 10 inches long made from a fabric tube soaked in beeswax, paraffin or a mixture of the two. The candle is placed in the ear and lit. Promoters of ear candles believe the heat from the candle creates a vacuum in the ear canal that draws out ear wax, toxins and impurities. In effect, an ear candles is supposed to clean and purify the ear canal, thereby promoting better ear health.

There have also been claims that ear candles reduce vertigo, cure ear infections, relieve the pain of earaches, sinus problems and headaches, and stop ringing in the ear (tinnitus).

Some promoters have even claimed ear candles "purify the blood" and help cure certain forms of cancer.

The FDA stated clearly in its notification that it has found no valid evidence that ear candles are safe and work as advertised. In fact, the FDA has received reports of burns, perforated eardrums and blockage of the ear canal which required medical attention and in some cases, surgery.
 
The notification also stated the FDA's concern about using ear candles on children. Small children and infants, the warning said, may move after the ear candle had been inserted, increasing the risk of wax injury.

Over the years, a mystique has grown claiming that ear candling has been used by Asian cultures and Native Americans for centuries, especially in the Hopi Tribe. However, in 1995, the Tribal Council of the Hopi Tribe denounced such reports as myth.

Ear candles are available from a wide variety of vendors in numerous locations, as well as on many commercial websites. They generally cost anywhere from $2.00 to $10.00 each.