Jamboo the Ludicrous wrote:
First, the candles actually do work. They are actually hollow cones and the burning does two things, it softens and loosens the earwax and the hot air rising actually helps pull the ear wax out through the hollow candle.
Your name including Ludicrous fits this quite well, as they do not soften and pull out wax. Hot air is at the top of the candle, you know, the lit part, not the bottom. If anything, a lit hollow candle in your ear will do nothing but deposit more wax into your ear. If you don't beleive me, wikipedia it and look at some onf the reference sites. Tests have been done, the gunk that it looks like is coming out of your ear is just impurities in the candle wax. Because the mind is a powerful thing, and you have convinced yourself that they work, you "feel better" after using them. Hot air rising is not enough to move wax, even softened, which since the heat isn't "in" your ear it isn't. In order to pull wax from your ear, you'd have to create enough negative pressure(or air moving our, or vacuum, or whatever term you'd like), to burst your ear drum.
A much better way too soften and remove wax from your ear is hydrogen peroxide. If you actually have such a build up that it is causing you problems, pour about a cap full in your ear and sit there for a few minutes. Hydrogen Peroxide actually breaks down the wax and allows it to flow out.
Edited, Dec 10th 2007 9:53am by Lathais