Daily
Telegraph 5 May 2008
Hopi:
a candle brought music to my ears
Liz
Mulholland waxes lyrical about a treatment used by the Ancient Greeks and
American Indians
I've
always spoken with an adenoidal twang and I liked to think it was part of my
northern charm. Two weeks ago, I discovered it wasn't. It was a moment of
Damascene significance in my life as, for the first time, I heard my own
voice as others hear it (less shrill than I suspected), while everything
else around me sounded as if someone had turned up the volume a notch or
two.
"London
is LOUD, isn't it," I texted a friend. God, I felt good, euphoric
almost - as though my brain had been "freed up". This must be how
normal people feel all the time, I thought; people whose auditory canals and
sinuses are as clear and free-flowing as a mountain stream.
My
own anatomy in this region had more in common with the old Leeds and
Liverpool Canal - static and stagnant - until a kindly therapist stuck a
burning candle in each ear, decongesting them, releasing pressure and
triggering a wonderful ripple effect throughout all interconnected tubes and
cavities.
Therapist
Marie Coudounas was diplomatic. "There's a lot of build-up,
particularly in your left ear," she said. "You may need to come
again." What she meant was, "You have a disgusting amount of wax
and one treatment won't shift it."
I
am now addicted to what is known as thermal auricular therapy, or ear
candling. Though subsequent treatments have not proved as dramatic as the
first, the decongested life is a revelation, and more pleasant than knocking
back Sudafed.
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Ear
candling, a traditional therapy used by the Ancient Greeks, was popularised
by the Hopi Indian tribe of the American south-west. The narrow, hollow
rolled column of cotton flax is impregnated with beeswax. Now know as Hopi
candles, they also contain honey, sage, St Johns Wort, and camomile. The
patient lies on their side and a candle is gently inserted as far as is
comfortable into the ear canal. It doesn't hurt, but it feels odd.
"You'll
hear a noise like sizzling bacon," Marie told me as she lit the candle;
yes, and a gentle "whooshing" warming sensation as things started
happening in my ear. She held it steady while a plug in the base of the
candle stopped any drips into the ear canal.
After
10 minutes, the candle had burned down to a marker - an inch and a half from
the ear - and Marie put out the flame. I rolled over and the process was
repeated for the other ear.
According
to practitioners, the candles work like a chimney, drawing impurities out.
Most are burned away, although some may be found in the candle wax residue -
your therapist will show you - or may appear (on a cotton bud) 24 to 48
hours after treatment. The column of warm air rising in the candle is said
to massage the ear drum while pressure in the sinus cavities and ears is
equalised.
The
medical view is sceptical. Mr Santdeep Paun, consultant nasal and facial
plastic surgeon at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, says he can't see how
candling can work: "There could be a change in pressure in theory, but
I'm not sure this can unblock eustachian tubes or sinuses."
Fair
enough, but it worked for me. Given that sinusitis is the most common
chronic illness in Britain with nine million sufferers, and that 2.3?million
people suffer ear wax problems, surely it is worth a try?
IS
EAR CANDLING FOR YOU?
Ear
candling is not advised if you:
Have
high blood pressure
Are
12 weeks (or under) pregnant
Wear
grommets
Are
suffering an ongoing ear or sinus infection
