The ear, nose, and throat specialist was astonished by how much wax was compacted in my ear. The doctor used a small vacuum to suck out the wax. My ear had never felt so good in my life. My hearing came back instantly.
She did however warn me that some people’s ears are just more susceptible to blockage than others. Somehow, I knew this wouldn’t be the end of my earwax saga.
A year later, that very same ear was showing all the warning signs of some serious blockage. Instead of trying to fix the problem on my own, I decided to do things a bit differently this time. I swapped the ENT for something more holistic: ear candling.
According to the NCBI journal, “Ear candling involves placing a hollow candle in the external auditory canal… After the procedure is finished, a brown waxy substance, believed by ear candling practitioners to be a mixture of earwax, debris, and bacteria, is left in the candle stub.”
I found a very nice woman named Karen who provided the service through her therapeutic bodywork and self-care company Wellbody. Karen explained that she used beeswax ear candles. After placing the candle in the ear, you simply light it and let the smoke cascade downward.
The smoke is supposed to create a vacuum that sort of loosens up the wax. Karen did say that the procedure may not be a one-size-fits-all solution for anyone with a blockage. Not only did I feel light as a feather immediately after the procedure, I could also hear better in my left ear.
I definitely think that it helped to loosen up much of the blockage. I would do the procedure again — because I think it helped with my congested ears, but it was also quite relaxing.
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