My roommates Scott had an accident with a wax ear plug while at a concert towards the end of last year. He was trying to protect his ear drums from the damages that can result from extended exposure to extreme sound levels. It backfired and nearly limited his hearing.
Scott has introduced a lot of new music to me, some of which is featured on the blog, and he's always finding cool remixes online (Check out The Hype Machine for some of the latest remixes of today's and yesterday's music). He's also one of the DJs for EDP, a new group that hosts dance parties in the Provo/Salt Lake area. In his spare time he listens to a lot of music for creative inspiration and shear enjoyment. Conscience of his hearing he is very careful and hasn't had any problems, until the accident...
So I guess Scott went to a concert, used wax ear plugs, enjoyed some live music, went to take out the plugs after the concert and one got lodged in his ear canal. He tried everything to get it out, but it was stuck pretty good. After a few days he decided to start the wild goose chase for a Hopi Ear Candle. Only a handful of people he spoke with had ever heard of an ear candle and even fewer specialty stores carry them. Finally he located one at a natural medicine-type store.
I had not yet heard of an ear candle and was curious to find out what it was and how it was going to coax out a wax plug. To my surprise it ended up being like an episode of Mister Wizard from the 80's.
So this is how it works. You lay on your side. Light the larger end of the ear candle and place the smaller end in your ear canal. The rest is magic! I seems that the fire creates a vacuum and sucks out excess wax. Some web sites instruct the use of two candles to get out all of the wax. Here are the pictures from my first exposure to ear candles.
(If you look close you can see the smoke pouring from Scott's ear while the candle is working. The candle made the sound of a jet engine as it burned.)
(My other roommate Nozomi making the most of the situation.)So the candle effectively removed a lot of wax, but unfortunately it didn't remove the wax ear plug. There are varying opinions as to the effectiveness of ear candles. Some say that it cures everything in addition to removing ear wax. Critics say that it's unsafe and should be removed from store shelves. I'll let you form your own opinion.
Further information can be found at these links:
The wax plug turned into a painful ear infection that led to an appointment with the doctor. He put Scott on antibiotics. About a week after seeing the doctor the remains of the wax plug just fell out in the shower. It must have dislodged after the swelling went away.
I am happy to say that Scott's hearing has been restored and he's back to his energetic self.
(Scott "Danger Stranger" mixing at EDP's Glenwood Dance Party.)
(Back at it.)
(Scott "Danger Stranger" mixing at EDP's Glenwood Dance Party.)(Back at it.)
1 comment:
I have heard of these candles and seen one used before too! I don't understand the science behind them at all--but whatever.
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