Ear Candle Therapy

I saw a sign near Union Square in a new salon advertising "Ear Candle Therapy" that had a photo very similar to this one:

(which is also hilarious looking this way:)

I had to find out more. Check Wikipedia for a great article. Some highlights:

• "According to medical researchers, it is both dangerous and ineffective"
• The FDA says, "...the use of a lit candle in the proximity of a person's face would carry a high risk of causing potentially severe skin/hair burns and middle ear damage."
• "Material that appears after ear candling, sometimes alleged to be earwax and toxins, was found to be residue from the candle itself."
• "Although Biosun, a manufacturer of ear candles, refers to them as "Hopi" ear candles, there is no such treatment within traditional Hopi healing practices."

Sounds like a safe, effective procedure. Let's all go stick a lit candle in our ears! Sounds like a great idea!*

*Sweet Gams! does not endorse nor recommend Ear Candle Therapy. Sticking a lit candle in one's ear does not sound like a great idea. Making a candle out of one's ear wax and lighting that, though, is a different story.