Sunday, April 10, 2005

Ear we go

Browsing the shelves in the chemist this morning, I chanced upon EARcandles. I was sufficiently interested/curious to pick up a brochure for "ORIGINAL HOPI EARcandles" - aka "Thermotherapy for the Head and Ears from BIOSUN". From the picture on the front of the brochure it looks like you put one end of the EARcandle in the ear, and light the other end. Admittedly, the picture, while clear, does not clearly show a flame, but as it has a wick - and they use the word "thermotherapy", that's what I'm going with. According to the brochure, EARcandles may be beneficial for the temporary relief of a whole range of problems - sinus, glue ears, headaches, tinnitus, sore throats and allergies. While contraindications have not been encountered, they strictly advise "not the use the EARcandles in the case of perforated ear drum, acute ear infections and allergic reactions to constituent elements". Hmmm. The EARcandle seems to work in two ways - slight underpressure inside the EARcandle (did I mention it is a hollow nine-inch tube) and a vibration of the rising air column through the natural movement of the flame which gentle massage the ear drum.
Of course, there are always questions. The EARcandles are sold in packs of 2. The brochure includes the words "we strongly encourage you to try a pair". The aforementioned picture on the front of the brochure shows a child lying on its side, with the candle stuck in the ear (that isn't pointing down). Obviously you can only have one EARcandle in at a time - so how can you "try a pair". And would you be game to try one?

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