<p>My daughter is an a well-regarded summer MT program. She announced that one of her voice teachers suggested a wonderful way to clear her ears of “fluid build-up” – ear candling. I have researched this myself and see that the FDA as well as other well-respected medical authorities strongly discourage its use. Dilemma is how to convince D that this is potentially dangerous! How many teachers dispense inappropriate advice on a variety of topics? Our kids are vulnerable to misinformation - how do we help make them informed consumers moving forward?
Please tell me if I am being crazy - I feel like a curmudgeon. Maybe it’s not that big of a deal?</p>
<p>I had never even heard of this and so I had to look it up. Give your daughter all the articles that explain why it is dangerous. Balance the information she was given and then discuss it.</p>
<p>I agree with soozievt. You are not crazy; this is poor misinformation and can damage your D’s ears. The best strategy would be for you to give her the information and website links, and let her judge for herself. I’m guessing even if she does do the ‘candling’ it’ll only be for the summer (hopefully) and that it’ll stop once she comes home and to sanity 
If she persists, you can always take her to a doctor at home. But for now, I’d counter the ‘advice’ with other expert advice, and then sit back and cross your fingers that she makes a good decision. I would say it only once, by the way; any more and she’ll feel like you’re ‘nagging’ her. It’s hard being a mom!</p>
<p>I’d probably tell her that if you held up a candle to that voice teacher’s ear, you’d see the light in the other ear. But that might not be the most diplomatic approach.</p>
<p>Haha, Hunt! That’s probably true. :)</p>
<p>Love it, Hunt! Made me smile.</p>
<p>According to Dr. Oz- you’re supposed to leave your ear wax alone. It’s supposed to be there. There are some drops that a doctor can give you that are considered safe. Wax in the ears is just ridiculous plus, that teacher does not have a license to dispense such misinformation. What next, will that teacher tell his students what to eat? It’s kind of scary what power this teacher has over the kids. just sayin’</p>
<p>And why is putting a special candle in your ear canal and igniting it better than a couple of drops of hydrogen peroxide hmmm? Somebody tell me what’s wrong with this picture. Aside from the supposed ear-wax removal aspect I somehow missed the memo that the ear canal was a repository of bodily toxins desperately in need of removal.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your kind words of advice. I was so mad and it was the middle of the night! I will forward the websites and try to explain how to make informed health decisions. And yes, connections, saying it more than once (nagging) is the worst offense a parent can commit. and don’t get me started on what kind of information these kids are going to hear on nutrition. I was heartened to see that Boston Conservatory has an on site nutritionist to help with that! Wonder how many other schools do as well :)</p>
<p>I work in the medical field and teach anatomy. Do not have your child do this. It can damage the ear drum and cause a ton of problems. There are effective over the counter medications to remove excessive ear wax. And if your daughter’s teacher and her reference to “fluid buildup” is dealing with the outer ear (like swimmer’s ear) then again there are effective over the counter medications. But sometimes the fluid buildup is within the middle ear and can be indicative of an infection requiring antibiotics. As always, if there is a persistent issue then you should consult a physician so you have the coorect diagnosis, and thus the correct treatment can be started.</p>
<p>The kiddo has allergies and despite having been seen my an MD, she still has some fluid in her inner ear which bothers her when she sings. So she was particularly vulnerable to this suggestion. I will be more emphatic with her NOT doing it.</p>
<p>OK, this is funny! I had candling done once by a professional because one of my ears was really clogged and itchy. It did feel good and afterward the therapist showed me what was supposedly the “wax” that came out of my ears. (Which seemed odd because my ears didn’t feel any clearer after the procedure and that was a LOT of “wax” that she showed me.) Then I found a video on the internet that showed the “wax” is just melted stuff from the candling cones and to prove it I replicated the experiment where you put the candling cone into something that simulates the ear opening like a pen cap, light the cone, and lo and behold the pen cap ended up with the same amount of “wax” in it as my ears! So it proved to me this really does nothing and is a waste of time and money!</p>