Ear candling
Ear candling, cleaning your ears with a tube and a candle, is an ancient practice that is still used in Asia and is, in fact, gaining in popularity:
“But many people in East Asian countries continue to resort to older methods. Over the centuries they have used a variety of bamboo or stainless steel tools — ranging from tiny ladles to wire loops — to scoop out the contents of their ears. In China, India and Vietnam, ear cleaners continue to offer their services on sidewalks and at temples in much the same way as their ancestors did.
An alternative to that rather public remedy is called ear candling, which is used to both clean ears and clear minds. One end of an ear candle is placed into the ear and the other end is lit. As the candle heats up, the warmth supposedly loosens earwax and flakes of dead skin in the ear canal, then it creates a vacuum that sucks everything up to the base of the candle. Also known as coning, it has been performed for about 2,500 years in such widely varying cultures as those of the Chinese, Tibetans, Egyptians, Mayan, Aztec and American Indians.
Modern ear candles are made from unbleached cotton, linen or hemp dipped in a mixture of paraffin, soy wax or beeswax and herbs such as rosemary, sage, jojoba, chamomile or lavender and then rolled into cones.
Not long ago, I found a a massage salon in Ebisu, Tokyo, that offers ear candling by a crew of pretty Chinese girls wearing skimpy, silky traditional dresses for 3,500 yen a session.
“It’s becoming fashionable in Beijing and Shanghai, where it started to appear in massage shops about two to three years ago,” said Wang Xiaoyang, 23, a staff member at Asahi Relaxation. “A friend introduced me to it about six months ago. I started offering it here in the summer and since then I’ve noticed such places around Tokyo’s Yamanote Line. It came to Japan through the Chinese.”
Wang said a few people drop into her shop every day after seeing the sign outside — curious about something they’ve never tried before.”
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