My 45 yr. old son has recently gone deaf after a lifetime of ear problems. Twice a year he uses a "linen with wax that is shaped into a narrow cone about a foot long and is lit on fire. It draws all of the wax out of his ears." One of his ear bones is fused to his brain and the Doctors can't help him. Is it safe?

quote:

---

Originally posted by edgeview:
My 45 yr. old son has recently gone deaf after a lifetime of ear problems. Twice a year he uses a "linen with wax that is shaped into a narrow cone about a foot long and is lit on fire. It draws all of the wax out of his ears." One of his ear bones is fused to his brain and the Doctors can't help him. Is it safe?

---

I have heard that candeling is worthless. Actually, worse than worthless because it can do damage to the ear canal and eardrum. A drop of mineral oil massaged into the ear may work for mild cases of earwax and have his doctor take care of anything more serious.

DD

I have serious ear problems, ranging from chronic ear infections to nerve deafness, malformed ear canals and then the sinuses just do not help. During my MRI for epilepsy the doctors say that it looks like my right ear is out of whack, however that could have been just a mis reading and we never pursued the issue since it was an MRI for epilepsy. My doctor theorizes that my ear bones are misplaced. I theorize with all the blows to the head that I have received in my life that it is a miracle that I am not a vegetable.

What you described is ear candling - it is a worthless process. It may get the wax out of the entry chamber, the place where you can stick your pinky, but it can not go deep enough to get impacted ear wax.http://scc.uchicago.edu/earwax.htm goes in depth, to touch on it ear wax mixes with dust and debris naturally found in the air and creates a hard kernel against the ear drum, causing the ear drum to cease to move. It can lead to infections which can cause some serious permanent damage to the ear drum and inner ear. There are some children who have chronic ear infections and end up losing partial hearing due to scar tissue from all of those infections. The take sinus and ear infections more seriously in pediatrics than they did during my childhood.

Under the Advise of my Doctor, I use a solution of 1/2 hydrogen peroxide and 1/2 water in my ears bi-monthly to clean my ears - this is a prevention treatment. I also use ear Stopples. These are ear plugs for sound and dirt, these are coated with a natural wax, they are one use only, and I use them when using the blower, using the circular saw, where ever I may be kicking up a lot of dust and debris - again it is a preventative measure to prevent the build up of ear wax.

To REMOVE an ear wax plug requires a couple of visits to the doctor. The first visit he/she will diagnose and prescribe a ear wax softener (I forget the name, but I did need prescription for it) I used for two weeks then went back to the office where a minor procedure was done by doctor, which is basically taking a small metal loop and "digging" out the softened ear wax. It was unpleasant, uncomfortable, but not painful.

It may very well be that there is also an ear infection, an inner ear infection which will add to the issue, this can only be treated by antibiotics.

Ear plugs and infections are treatable issues.

Malformed ear canals can be treated with surgery: http://www.medicinenet.com/ear_tubes/article.htm which places a tube inside canal to keep it open, this allows drainage from inside the ear to the outside, it also allows air pressure to equalize. They place "tubes" in the ear. It is a common enough operation done to help prevent ear infections in children - mostly. But adults can get them too.

Then there is nerve deafness when the nerves between the ear drum and the brain become damaged or die off. Older people lose nerve cells as a matter of course and is the primary cause of hearing loss in older adults.

Then there is the fact that the eardrum becomes over stretched and loses its tension, this can happen as a matter of course of old age (when all tissues begins to sag) or from over use, such as being a mechanic at the international airport, going to too many KISS concerts, playing your stereo with the Boom-Boom music too loud and all the time.

Then there are mechanical problems, dislodged ear bones, punctured ear drum, scar tissue build up along the canal or the inner ear from infections. It is possible to go deaf from a blow to the head which causes the delicate "ear bone" to move, or even break. There are actually 3 bones in the ear, the Hammer, the Anvil and the Stirrup.

The first two are pretty much easy to figure out how they work, Hammer and Anvil, the stirrups conduct and amplify the vibrations of sound to the cochlea which is a spiral shell shaped organ which has the nerves which converts vibrations into nerve impulses and transmits nerve (electric) impulses to the Brain.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/ear/

What we see here is that the cochlea is between the ear bones and the brain. I can not see how a ear bone can be fused to the brain. It could be fused to something else It is possible that the ear bones are fused together: otosclerosis http://www.med.umn.edu/otol/library/otoscler.htm. Not unless it has been totally dislodged and rammed through a few things. Fused ear bones now days can be treated with an operation, depending on the severity of the issue, the patient's health, etc.

HEARING AIDES: I hate mine with a passion, they are the in the ear kind which when I wear them I am super aware of their existence and I know that they flash lights and put a neon sign over my head that basically says "THIS MAN IS WEARING HEARING AIDES SCREAM AT HIM!"

The problem is that when people see the hearing aids they raise their voice which pretty much cancels out why I am wearing aides and I get a lot of noise but nothing that makes sense. Hearing aides amplify sound. Now days they amplify certain sound ranges, basically like the equalizer on the stereo, they can raise the treble, bass, mid range depending on which part of the sound spectrum the patient has their hearing loss. Most hearing loss is only a range of sound - some hearing loss is not hearing loss at all they hear, but they can not distinguish the sound.

Thus if the ear bones are fused, or out of place, it is possible that hearing aides can help. Mind the main job of the ear bones are to amplify sound.

There are hearing experts who do nothing but work with hearing issues, ear issues Your Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor (ENT) specializes in the head holes.

What your son should do is go to the GP (General Practitioner) and have him/her have a look see and if needed get a referral to a ENT who will have many more answers than a GP when it comes to the ear.

Throw out the ear candle, do not self treat if there is a hearing loss going on, it may very well be that there is a build up of impacted ear wax, but it also may very well be inner ear infection which no amount of ear drops will touch.


David

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Silja,

Here is another link on ear candling describing it as a potentially harmful quack remedy.

Thank you all.

David, very informative post.

I, myself, have damage from scarring after having had many many ear infections as a child and as a result do have some hearing loss.

My oldest son has had many ear infections also and we had his adenoids, tonsils removed and had tubes placed in all the same surgery. It did help a lot but he still does get infections at times yet.

Candling is dangerous done wrong and often ineffective anyway.

Best thing to do is use debrox or some other wax softener for a week or so followed by irrigation of the ears with 1/2 peroxide and 1/2 tap water (warm). Your doctor can do this if you are not able to. Or the Ear/Nose & Throat specialist can.