Ear candling, also called ear coning or thermal-auricular
therapy, is an alternative medicine practice claimed to improve
general health and well-being by lighting one end of a hollow
candle and placing the other end in the ear canal. Medical
research has shown that the practice is both dangerous and
ineffective and does not help remove earwax or alleged toxins.
The claim by one manufacturer that ear candles originated with
the Hopi tribe also has been disproven. One end of a cylinder or
cone of waxed cloth is lit, and the other is placed into the
subject's ear. The flame is cut back occasionally with scissors
and extinguished between 5 and 10 centimeters (2-4 inches) from
the subject. The subject is lying on one side with the treated
ear uppermost and the candle vertical. The candle can be stuck
through a paper plate or aluminium pie tin to protect against
any hot wax or ash falling onto the subject. Another way to
perform ear candling involves the subject lying face up with the
ear candle extending out to t