Editing Ear candling (section)

==Safety and effectiveness==
Professor of Complementary Medicine [[Edzard Ernst]] wrote about ear candles: "There is no data to suggest that it is effective for any condition. Furthermore, ear candles have been associated with ear injuries. The inescapable conclusion is that ear candles do more harm than good. Their use should be discouraged."<ref name=Ernst>{{cite journal| author=Edzard Ernst |author-link=Edzard Ernst |title=Ear candles: a triumph of ignorance over science |journal= The Journal of Laryngology & Otology |year=2004 |volume=118 |issue=1 |pages=1–2 |pmid=14979962 |doi=10.1258/002221504322731529}}</ref><ref name=TrickOrTreatment>{{cite book |author1=Singh, S. |author2=Ernzt, E. |title=Trick or Treatment: Alternative medicine on trial |year=2008 |publisher=Bantam Press |title-link=Trick or Treatment }}</ref>

According to the US [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA), ear candling is sometimes promoted with claims that the practice can "purify the blood" or "cure" cancer. [[Health Canada]] has determined the candles do not affect the ear, and provide no health benefit; instead, they create a risk of injury, especially when used on children.<ref name=webmd>{{cite web |url=http://www.webmd.com/fda/stay-away-ear-candles |publisher=[[WebMD]] |editor=Food and Drug Administration |editor-link=Food and Drug Administration |title=Don't Get Burned: Stay Away From Ear Candles |access-date=2016-08-17}}</ref> In October 2007, US FDA issued an alert identifying ear candles (also known as ear cones or auricular candles) as "dangerous to health when used in the dosage or manner, or with the frequency or duration, prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the labeling thereof{{Nbsp}}... since the use of a lit candle in the proximity of a person's face would carry a high risk of causing potentially severe skin/hair burns and middle ear damage."<ref name="FDA">{{cite web|url=https://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia7701.html|title=Detention Without Physical Examination of Ear Candles|website=[[Food and Drug Administration]]|access-date=2007-11-17 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071114035555/https://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia7701.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-11-14}}</ref>

A 2007 paper in the journal ''[[Canadian Family Physician]]'' concludes:

{{quote|Ear candling appears to be popular and is heavily advertised with claims that could seem scientific to lay people. However, its claimed mechanism of action has not been verified, no positive clinical effect has been reliably recorded, and it is associated with considerable risk. No evidence suggests that ear candling is an effective treatment for any condition. On this basis, we believe it can do more harm than good and we recommend that GPs discourage its use.<ref name=Rafferty>{{cite journal|author1=J. Rafferty |author2=MB CHB |author3=A. Tsikoudas |author4=FRCS DLO |author5=B.C. Davis |author6=FRCS ED | title=Ear candling: Should general practitioners recommend it?| journal=Can Fam Physician|date=1 December 2007 |issue=12 |pages=2121–2 | pmid=18077749 |volume=53 |pmc=2231549}}</ref>}}

A 2007 paper in ''[[American Family Physician]]'' said:

{{quote|Ear candling also should be avoided. Ear candling is a practice in which a hollow candle is inserted into the external auditory canal and lit, with the patient lying on the opposite ear. In theory, the combination of heat and suction is supposed to remove earwax. However, in one trial, ear candles neither created suction nor removed wax and actually led to occlusion with candle wax in persons who previously had clean ear canals. Primary care physicians may see complications from ear candling including candle wax occlusion, local burns, and tympanic membrane perforation.<ref name=McCarter>McCarter, ''et al''. [http://www.aafp.org/afp/20070515/1523.html Cerumen Impaction] ''[[American Family Physician]]'', May 15, 2007</ref>}}
[[Image:Typical ear candling contents.jpg|thumb|Material appearing after ear candling is actually residue from the candle itself.]]

The [[Spokane]] Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic conducted a research study in 1996, which concluded that ear candling does not produce negative pressure and is ineffective in removing wax from the ear canal.<ref name="Seely"/> Several studies have shown that ear candles produce the same residue — which is simply candle wax and soot — when burnt without ear insertion.<ref name="Seely" /><ref name="straight dope">{{cite web|year=1995|url=http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_098.html|title=The Straight Dope: How do "ear candles" work?|access-date=2006-03-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/pre-2007/files/health/earcandle/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601193035/http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/pre-2007/files/health/earcandle/index.html|archive-date=2013-06-01|title=Listen up: Beware of the <nowiki>'ear candle'</nowiki>|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=CBC Marketplace|date=2002-02-22|access-date=2016-08-17}}</ref>

At least two house fires (one fatal) have been caused by accidents during ear candling.<ref name=Schwartz>{{cite news|title=Don't put a candle in your ear and save $25 |author=Joe Schwartz |date=30 August 2008 |publisher=Montreal Gazette |page=I11 |url=http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/columnists/story.html?id=a124f47e-ba20-482e-8acf-3e772e868e4f |location=Montreal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628222621/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/columnists/story.html?id=a124f47e-ba20-482e-8acf-3e772e868e4f |archive-date=28 June 2011 }}</ref>

A survey of [[Otorhinolaryngology|ear, nose and throat]] surgeons found some who had treated people with complications from ear candling, and that burns were the most common.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Ear candles – Efficacy and safety: Seely DR, Quigley SM, Langman AW. Laryngoscope 106:1226, 1996|journal = Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery|date = 1997-04-01|pages = 431|volume = 55|issue = 4|doi = 10.1016/S0278-2391(97)90150-6|first = R|last = Holloway}}</ref>