WHAT IS EAR CONING?

WHAT IS EAR CONING?

By  Shelley Hines

 

I was in college when I first discovered the art of Ear Coning. My roommate at the time suffered with twentieth-century disease. This meant that she was allergic to man-made products and chemicals. She was also born with only one ear, so her daily toiletry routine was something to behold!

I came home one afternoon to find her in front of a mirror holding a long flaming cone that she had inserted into her ear. She explained this ancient healing technique to me as a natural way to clean and clear the ears of debris, wax, yeasts, toxins, water, etc. The name for this procedure is Ear Coning or Candling.

This technique has been used by the Mayans, Chinese, Tibetans, Egyptians, Aztecs, Native Americans and some even say the Lemurians and Atlantians. What I find fascinating is that these groups of people were practicing Ear Coning during the same time period, when world travel had “apparently” not yet begun.

Each culture used different mediums that were available in their region to make their cones, but all designed them the same way. i.e. papyrus reeds and cornstalks were formed into long hollow, cylinder shapes, then dipped into hot wax to give the cone its firmness.

Today we use muslin cloth dipped in paraffin or beeswax to make our cones. They are approximately twelve inches long and are open at both ends. Some cones have essential oils mixed into the wax for their specific healing properties.

Prior to the actual Ear Coning procedure, a health history intake is done to ensure that the client’s needs and issues are addressed. They may have congestion in their ears or sinuses, suffer with headaches, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), swimmers ear, allergies, etc.

After the intake, the client lays on their side on a massage table. The therapist then cleans their ear with a natural astringent i.e. witch-hazel. Then an otoscope, (just like the one at the doctor’s), is used to view inside the ear.

The client will then have a protective cloth place around their ear & head, or some therapists may use a tin plate. The plate has a hole in the center so the ear cone can be safely placed into it and then into the client’s ear. The cone enters the ear canal just enough to ensure a comfortable snug fit, but never deep enough to reach or injure the eardrum. The reason that the client’s head is covered, is that the distal end of the cone is set on fire and the therapist must always ensure the client’s safety and comfort. The fire forms a vacuum in the cone and the warm smoke billows down into the canal and pulls out the debris, wax, etc. The cone is held in place by the therapist and as it burns down an inch or so, is then removed from the client’s ear and the cone’s burnt part is cut off into a bowl of water. It is again inserted into the ear and allowed to burn down until there’s approximately 3-4 inches left & it’s finally extinguished in the water.

The therapist can unravel the leftover cone to show the client what was removed. This may sound bizarre, but as living breathing beings, we humans are host to other living beings, both in and on us. When there’s an imbalance of too much bacteria, yeast, etc., this can make us feel foggy-headed, stuffed-up, we may have trouble hearing, or even have a general feeling of malaise.

Detoxifying ourselves is an important aspect to maintaining good health, and Ear Coning is a simple and wonderful way to assist in this process.

At the end of the session, the otoscope is used once again to re-check the ear and then an ear oil is dripped in. Oils vary in their ingredients and essential oils may be added to help soothe the ear’s nerve endings and to aid in sustaining the health of the ear.

Ear Coning is safe, non-intrusive, painless and very relaxing. Many clients actually fall asleep during their treatment!

Contraindications to coning are a torn eardrum, acute/severe ear infections, as well as traveling in airplanes within 24hrs. As the ears are temporarily stripped of wax, it takes about 24 hours to generate enough new ear wax to protect your ears.

The frequency of this therapy depends on each individual’s needs. By having Ear Coning’s done seasonally, you can stay on top of your health the natural way!

Shelley Hines is a passionate healer committed to helping others help themselves. She is a licensed Ear Coning, Shiatsu & Tong Ren Therapist. Shelley teaches Meditation & Qi Gong.