<p>I had never heard of it before and someone that I know mentioned it…just wondering if it has any health benefits or risks?</p>
<p>What the heck is it?</p>
<p>It’s swishing vegetable oil in your mouth. I think it’s highly doubtful whether it does any good at all–it’s certainly not going to suck out toxins. It’s probably not harmful though. At least you can do it yourself, and it’s cheap, unlike something like ear candling, which does nothing and costs money.</p>
<p>OK, I’ll bite: What’s ear candling?</p>
<p>Note to self: do not read these threads during the lunch hour…</p>
<p>Neither of these sound like things I’d do without SIGNIFICANT proof of benefits GREATLY outweighing negatives. Ick!</p>
<p>Here you go:
[Ear</a> candling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_candling]Ear”>Ear candling - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>eeeww to both.</p>
<p>I am sooooooo out of the loop.</p>
<p>I had a friend who was very into this sort of stuff for a while. Would take either the oil pulling (though i might vomit) or the ear thingy (sounds relatively painless) over the colon cleansing that was part of her routine for a while.</p>
<p>I know nothing about oil pulling but I have had my ears candled. My wife comes from a long line of nuts who consider this stuff normal. This particular freakish practice… ain’t that bad. 
In fact, it feels pretty good… that is, when you get over the whole “this is insane” thing.</p>
<p>Add my Dh to the list who believe in ear candling & I’m the one who used to do it for him. It’s definitely an old world method; pretty much every Polish or Russian family I knew had an aunt or grandma that would do it. I thought it was a bunch of hooey until I started paying attention to the inside of the candles post treatment.</p>
<p>I love my life…and CC…I am always learning something NEW!</p>
<p>The stuff inside the candle comes from the candle, not your ears.</p>
<p>Colon cleansing doesn’t do anything, either.</p>
<p>And don’t get me started on the toxin-sucking pads you put on the bottoms of your feet.</p>
<p>^^^Hunt, I really thought that too. Until I did multiple candles in one ear & the difference from candle to candle was remarkable in terms of what was in the candle both in terms of volume & color. And from ear to ear. I know, TMI pre-coffee…</p>
<p>Here’s an article on ear candling from Quackwatch, a website which criticizes all sorts of alternative therapies–probably all of us believe in and practice something it debunks, but it’s pretty interesting:
[Why</a> Ear Candling Is Not a Good Idea](<a href=“http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candling.html]Why”>http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candling.html)</p>
<p>But why is what’s in your ears a problem to be fixed? Just as, Why is what’s in your colon a problem to be fixed??</p>
<p>wax buildup in your ears can cause hearing loss among other things- but you can go to a Dr for that.
Same with your insides- problems can interfere with digestion & absorption of nutrients.</p>
<p>I live under a rock…</p>
<p>Jym: giggle of the morning</p>
<p>You can also clean out your ears pretty well with something like Debrox and a squeeze bulb. You might have to go to a doc if it’s too solid, though.</p>