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From Spiritfold, Australian Spiritual Alliance: https://spiritfold.com/Ear_candling

Ear candling

From Spiritfold
This is the approved revision of this page, as well as being the most recent.

Ear candling is an alternative practice in which a hollow candle, called an ear candle, is placed in the ear canal and lit.[1] Australia's health information service, healthdirect, also calls it ear coning.[2] Health Canada describes ear candling as an old home remedy that has no proven medical benefits and can cause serious injury.[3]

This page describes the practice and how it is regulated. Ear candles are products, and this page makes no claims for them.

Description

The candle

An ear candle is a narrow, hollow cone soaked in beeswax or paraffin.[3] Canadian family doctors writing in 2007 described it as a fabric tube soaked in beeswax.[4] The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives its length as about ten inches (around 25 centimetres).[5]

A session

The person lies on their side with one end of the cone in the ear. The other end is lit and left to burn for a few minutes.[3] The 2007 article gives the burning time as about 15 minutes, and notes that a brown, waxy residue is left in the stub of the candle afterwards. Ear candling may be offered by beauticians or alternative therapists, and people also do it at home using kits.[4]

How practitioners explain it

Ear candling is mainly promoted for removing ear wax, although promoters have also made claims for a range of other complaints.[3][4] Some people believe the burning candle creates warmth and suction that draw wax out of the ear canal.[3] The 2007 article describes two explanations that have been put forward: a "chimney effect", in which the candle is said to create a vacuum that pulls out wax and debris, and the idea that wax melts during candling and drains out over the following days.[4]

These explanations have since been tested, and the next section sets out what was found. Although a residue is left in the candle stub, a 1996 trial found that candling removed no ear wax.[6][4]

Scope

What it includes

  • Placing a lit, hollow candle in the ear canal while the person lies on their side[3]
  • Sessions given by some beauticians and alternative therapists, and home use with kits[4]

What it is not

  • It is not a proven treatment. Health Canada says research has shown no medical benefit, and that testing has shown ear candles do not create significant heat or suction in the ear canal.[3] healthdirect says there is no proof that ear candles work to treat any condition.[2]
  • The suction idea has not held up. In a 1996 study, measurements in a model ear canal showed that ear candles did not produce negative pressure, and a small trial in eight ears found that candling removed no wax; in some ears, candle wax was left behind.[6] A 2004 review found the proposed way ear candles work implausible, and found no data suggesting that they are effective for any condition.[7]
  • It is not a recommended way to manage ear wax. The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation's 2017 clinical practice guideline on ear wax advises clinicians to recommend against ear candling for treating or preventing a build-up of ear wax.[8] healthdirect advises people not to use ear candles to treat ear wax.[9]
  • It is not a therapeutic good in Australia. Since 1 October 2018, ear candles have not been regulated as therapeutic goods in Australia (see below).[10]

Traditions and lineage

Context

Within Spiritualism

Spiritfold has found no published source linking ear candling with Spiritualism.

For comparison, guidance on Spiritualist healing from the National Spiritualist Association of Churches in the United States says that spiritual healers should not use or sell any product when giving healing, and that people should never give up medication or stop following their health professional's advice.[11]

In Australian Spiritualism

Spiritfold has found no published source linking ear candling with Spiritualism in Australia.

A Spiritualist perspective

Ear candling has no place in Spiritualist healing, and the sources on this page find no link between the two. A Spiritualist teacher would be gentle with anyone who has tried it or offered it, while speaking plainly about the safety concerns set out here.

Our healing asks nothing of the body beyond a quiet chair and, with permission, a light touch. There are no flames, no candles in the ear, no products to sell and no promises made. If someone in a church or circle asks about ear candling, the caring answer is to point them to the health advice on this page and suggest they talk to a doctor about any trouble with their ears. Take particular care where children are concerned: nobody should be encouraged to try it on a child. Respect for the person always comes before any practice.

Ear candling in Australia

How ear candles were regulated until 2018

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is the Australian Government body that regulates therapeutic goods. Until 2018 it regulated ear candles as listed "other therapeutic goods", which meant they could only be supplied once they had been entered on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG).[1] For goods in this category, the TGA assessed them before they were entered on the register, and sponsors (the businesses responsible for supplying them) had to hold evidence that the products worked and produce it if asked. The goods also had to meet labelling, packaging and advertising requirements, and could be recalled.[1]

Why the rules changed

In a public consultation paper in March 2017, the TGA reported 15 ear candles on the register, with claims to do with relaxation, general wellbeing and ear wax cleaning.[12] The paper set out the problem with leaving things as they were: keeping these products on the register could be seen as legitimising them, and could lead consumers to think the TGA had approved them as effective and fit for purpose.[12]

The paper weighed three options: keep the existing arrangements, exempt ear candles from listing while still treating them as therapeutic goods, or exclude them from the therapeutic goods framework altogether. Under the third option, ear candles would be treated as consumer goods, which the paper said would prevent them from making therapeutic claims, and would bring Australia closely into line with the United States and Canada. The paper was open about the trade-off: with no regulatory check before products reached the market, substandard products could still be sold with inappropriate claims, and oversight would pass to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) rather than a specialist health regulator.[12]

The 2018 exclusion

The TGA found that the claims made for ear candles were consistent with cosmetic or personal hygiene products, and the Government decided to exclude them from the therapeutic goods framework.[1] The decision was announced on 21 June 2018 and took effect on 1 October 2018, under the Therapeutic Goods (Excluded Goods) Determination 2018.[10] Ear candles were still listed as excluded goods in the compilation of the Determination in force on 1 July 2024.[13]

According to the TGA, excluded goods are not regulated as therapeutic goods. They come mainly under the Australian Consumer Law, which the ACCC administers.[1] In plain terms, the change was not an approval of ear candles: it removed them from a system that could have suggested government endorsement.[12]

Overseas regulation

The TGA's 2017 consultation paper noted that Health Canada had not licensed any ear candles, and that selling them with medical claims was illegal in Canada and the United States.[12] Health Canada says that selling or importing ear candles for medical reasons is illegal in both countries.[3]

The FDA treats ear candles as medical devices and lists them under an import alert, which allows shipments to be held without physical examination. It gives two reasons. It considers the labelling false and misleading, because there is no validated scientific evidence that the product works. It also considers the product dangerous when used as labelled, because a lit candle near the face carries a high risk of burns to the skin and hair and of damage to the ear.[5]

Government health advice

healthdirect, the Australian Government's health information service, advises people not to use ear candles to treat ear wax, because they can cause burns and damage the eardrum.[9]

Safety and good practice

Known risks

Health Canada lists these known risks of ear candling:

  • nearby objects catching fire[3]
  • serious burns[3]
  • hot wax dripping into the ear or onto skin or hair[3]
  • candle wax blocking the ear canal[3]
  • a punctured eardrum[3]
  • temporary hearing loss.[3]

In a 1996 survey of 122 ear, nose and throat specialists, respondents identified 21 ear injuries caused by ear candles.[6] The 2007 article reported these as burns, blocking of the ear canal by candle wax, temporary hearing loss, ear canal infections and a perforated eardrum. Its authors considered that ear candling should never be used by people with a perforated eardrum, grommets or recent ear surgery.[4]

Children

Children have also been harmed. A 2012 case report from New Zealand described a four-year-old girl found to have white deposits on her eardrum caused by ear candling.[14]

What health authorities advise

Health Canada advises people to avoid ear candling, to talk to a health professional about safe and effective options for ear wax or other concerns, and to report any incident involving an ear candle.[3] healthdirect suggests that wax-softening drops, or removal by a health professional, are options if ear wax is a problem.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Future regulation of low risk products". Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australian Government Department of Health. Last updated 13 April 2023 (accessed 11 October 2026).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Earache". healthdirect, Healthdirect Australia (Australian Government). Last reviewed March 2026 (accessed 11 October 2026).
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 "Ear candling". Health Canada, Government of Canada. Date modified 16 February 2023 (accessed 11 October 2026).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Rafferty, J., A. Tsikoudas and B. C. Davis. "Ear candling: should general practitioners recommend it?". Canadian Family Physician 53, no. 12 (December 2007): 2121–2122 (accessed 11 October 2026).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 US Food and Drug Administration. "Import Alert 77-01: Detention Without Physical Examination Of Ear Candles". Revised 4 June 2025 (accessed 11 October 2026).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Seely, D. R., S. M. Quigley and A. W. Langman. "Ear candles: efficacy and safety". The Laryngoscope 106, no. 10 (October 1996): 1226–1229. doi:10.1097/00005537-199610000-00010. Abstract read via Europe PMC (accessed 11 October 2026).
  7. ↑ Ernst, E. "Ear candles: a triumph of ignorance over science". Journal of Laryngology and Otology 118, no. 1 (January 2004): 1–2. doi:10.1258/002221504322731529. Abstract read via Europe PMC (accessed 11 October 2026).
  8. ↑ Schwartz, S. R. and others. "Clinical Practice Guideline (Update): Earwax (Cerumen Impaction)". Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery 156, no. 1 suppl. (January 2017): S1–S29. doi:10.1177/0194599816671491. Abstract read via Europe PMC (accessed 11 October 2026).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Ear wax". healthdirect, Healthdirect Australia (Australian Government). Last reviewed October 2023 (accessed 11 October 2026).
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Therapeutic Goods (Excluded Goods) Determination 2018 explanatory notes". Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australian Government Department of Health. Last updated 27 September 2018 (accessed 11 October 2026).
  11. ↑ National Spiritualist Association of Churches. What is Spiritual Healing? Brochure. Lily Dale, New York: NSAC, 2024 (accessed 12 October 2026).
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Consultation: Options for the future regulation of "low risk" products. Version 1.0. Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australian Government Department of Health, March 2017 (accessed 11 October 2026).
  13. ↑ Therapeutic Goods (Excluded Goods) Determination 2018. Compilation No. 10, compilation date 1 July 2024, Schedule 1, item 7. Federal Register of Legislation, Australian Government (accessed 11 October 2026).
  14. ↑ Hornibrook, J. "Where there's smoke there's fire: ear candling in a 4-year-old girl". New Zealand Medical Journal 125, no. 1367 (December 2012): 138–140. Abstract read via Europe PMC (accessed 11 October 2026).

Further reading

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