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In this article we will attempt to give a fair evaluation of an alternative treatment known as ear candling. For those of you who are not aware what ear candling is, we will give a brief description.
Ear candling requires that you insert a lighted, hollow candle into your ear. Yes, there is some reading this that don’t know about ear candling and may think this sounds wacky–stay with us!
The candle is made from beeswax and paper, and when lit, creates a vacuum that is thought to draw out “impurities” and excess earwax. It has been claimed that ear candling relieves tinnitus (ringing in the ears), sinus congestion, itchy ears, headaches, swimmers’ ear, allergies, and infections.
The “impurities” or toxins are thought to be candida, pollen, microbes, and molds. Wax buildup is a real problem; the toxins are the other stuff of different consistency and colors.
Does Ear Candling Work?
At our clinic we make no claims for ear candling, but recognize it is a phenomenon of the larger field of alternative medicine, and requires a different perspective to understand its worth. Our experience is that most people who try ear candling find it has value. Whether it does all that some practitioners and consumers say it does is debatable, but there is something to ear candling, and because people find help from it, the practice will continue.
What’s Good About Ear Candling?
Most people who experience ear candling find that their ears feel more “unblocked,” and open. There is often a sense that one can hear better. Usually there is a sense of relaxation and well being that occurs with ear candling. This type of subjective experience alone warrants further investigation. Many people claim that it helps sinus and ear infections. We’ll have to take their word for it.
Medical doctors don’t like ear candling. There is some heavy prejudice towards the practice. Almost every reference by any medical site says ear candling is dangerous, and could burst your ear drums.
We can say without any reservation that we have never heard of any one being harmed by this method. It is repeated over and over by doctors this is “dangerous.” Unfortunately, regular medical thinking does not have a good track record for being fair in evaluating alternative medicine. They used to claim that Vitamin C was dangerous. It is likely that hearsay and misinformation is being repeated by otherwise well meaning individuals. Remember, pregnancy vitamins and probiotics were “unproven,” and suspect at one time.
The FDA believes ear candling doesn’t have any health benefits and have declared they should not be used for medical purposes. They state ear cones may not be promoted as being beneficial to a healthy body. Their stance is that ear candling may be hazardous to your health.
We advise being careful when using ear candles. The candles should not be jammed into the ears. They should be gently inserted into the ear and carefully held in place after lighting. Most people use a paper plate with a hole in it to keep ashes from falling. It is important to always have someone present helping you in ear candling. A bowel of water should be nearby to insert the burned ear cone into.
Interested In Ear Candling?
Use common sense. If you suspect you have a serious health problem involving your ears, get a diagnosis.
Some patients or customers have asked us to show them how ear candling works or perform it on them. We believe that ear candling helps adjust the temporal bones to a more balanced position. We usually follow ear candling in these instances with a release of the occipital/atlas region using craniosacral therapy. This always feels good and makes the head feel clearer.
You can find ear candles here and find the herbal remedy for ear problems here.
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At the request of Healing Waters Clinic’s owner Laurence, I did a test with celery seed and Ajwain seeds. Celery seeds won the contest hands down for me but there were benefits from Ajwan seed as well. At least for me celery seed work best.
Ajwain seed is from India where they use it for a digestive aid such as abdominal problems from indigestion. They also give it to animals to improve their digestion and appetite. The oil is used to inhibit growth of undesirable bacteria in the digestive track.
Celery seed has been uses as a Western healing herb for many years. It was used as a tea to clean out the urinary track because it flushes out uric acid which, by the way, is what causes gout. It was also used for the pain of arthritis and ache and pains in muscles.
So, now that you know what the healing herbs are let’s continue on with the celery seed vs Ajwain seed. Here’s the background info, the type of test, and the results of trying these two powerful healing herbs for one week each.
The reason: A patience of HWC came in asking for Ajwain seeds to use for RLS (restless leg syndrome), hip joint pain, and a nerve problem in the back.
She makes a really strong decoction and adds water and drinks it 3 times a day.
The argument was, since we were out of Ajwain, we said she could use celery seed and have the same benefits. Our patience said no way, they weren’t the same herb and didn’t have the same affect on the body. Just so you know Ajwain is wild celery while celery seed is the kind of celery you can buy in the store only grown, not the seed. Ajwan is sometimes called Bishop’s weed which, according to Mrs. Grieves Herbal is wild celery. Ajwain is grown in India and celery is grown in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Celery seed tastes like celery and Ajwain tastes like thyme or cumin.
Now for the test…
Background: I have a hip injury that is several years old due to being hit by a car on a bike. Sometimes the pain from walking or sitting is too much to handle and I need some relief from it. I also have a shoulder injury, rotator cuff injury, that pains me a lot. Of course, there are the normal aches and pains from living a dare devil life when I was younger. So, now you know about the pain involved.
The Test: I drank a cup of tea every morning for a week of ajwain and a week of celery seed tea, on different weeks. I used a teaspoon full of seed and let it brew for 20 to 30 minutes before I drank it. The only other herb I took during these two weeks was 6 capsules a day of turmeric. Turmeric is what I use for the inflammation in my shoulders.
The results of Ajwain: There was some pain relief in my shoulder and hip but it only lasted for a couple of hours. It didn’t take the pain away completely. The taste was ok as it had a hint of thyme to it. It didn’t have a celery seed taste. It did give me pain relief in my shoulder more so than my hips but as I said, it didn’t last very long.
The results of celery seed: Before I finished my first cup of celery seed tea the pain in my hip was gone. The pain stayed away for at least 6 to 8 hours. It also helped the pain in my shoulder for the same amount of time. But since I have limited movement with my arms the sharp pain was still there. The achy pain stayed away for the 6 hours. I was suitably impressed with the celery seed tea. It also tasted like celery so much that I added a little salt to it and it was very tasty.
As you can see and run your own test on these two healing herbs, they both work to aid in pain relief of joint pain and muscle pain. Chris, the other associate here at Healing Waters, uses celery seed tea when he does some heavy work in his garden. When he’s done in the garden he brews a cup or two of celery seed, adds a little Himalayan sea salt, which replaces the minerals that he sweat out during his garden work. He says it help with the muscle aches and pain.
So, what do you think? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think about using celery seed or ajwan seed for pain relief.
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Tiger Woods, the most famous golfer in the whole world dropped out of The Players Championship (TPC) 2011 tournament in Ponte Vedra, Florida due to injuries. I am sure Mr. Woods has the best therapists, and doctors available, but he may not have the cutting-edge alternative therapies that will help recover and stay pain free.
This article also mentions his neck injury of the previous year. So what’s going on with Tiger? What would we do different for him at our office that he could not get from the best therapists and doctors he can find?
My guess from looking at Tiger is that he is in very good shape. He clearly works out, probably has a cross-training program, most likely stretches–at least some, and sees experts on his sport for both coaching and therapy.
He probably has a lot of biomechanical imbalances from left to right, and posterior to anterior in his body. In other words, he’s slightly off balance and misaligned like most of us even though he is an elite athlete. He needs structural correction through the soft tissues and skeletal system.
He is probably not as flexible in his joint range of motion as he should be. He needs to have good range of motion restored and to be taught how to maintain. This is most likely why his neck was painful and stiff.
Lack of proper alignment in the pelvis and poor range of motion in the hips and legs are probably the reason his medial collateral ligament blew out and Achilles tendon strained and fatigued.
He probably has muscluloskeletal strains, trigger points, scar tissue, and unresolved sprain injuries. No wonder poor Tiger is suffering!
He needs alignment through Muscle Energy Technique, Neuromuscular Therapy, and Myofascial Release. He probably needs some Chiropractic too, although I suspect he’s tried that and massage along with physical therapy. I would suggest he also use an herbal poultice to draw out inflammation in his knee – it’s got to hurt.
A good description of his sports injuries and its repercussions can be found here at Sports at ESPN.
Someone get the word to Tiger. We’re just down the road in St. Augustine.
What other herbal products would we recommend to Tiger? Chinese remedies such as:
And Western herbs such as:
Complete Tissue & Bone Ointment
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