It only took a few minutes after I posted this image of my 8-year-old on Facebook for me to realize there are many people out there whom are curious about ear candling or want to try it, but they are afraid.

Our 8-year-old fully understands how much better he feels after candling and runs to me to tell me when his ears are “full” and need “emptied”.

I get it. I’m a mom too, but ear candling doesn’t make me nervous. It makes me feel like I’m actually doing something to prevent health issues for my family…something I fully believe in and has proven itself over and over. I can thank my cousin for the lack of nerves. It all started when I was in college. Neeley lived just a 5-minute car trip from me and we had many evenings of fun and movies. One night while watching “The Heathers” for the millionth time, I complained of ear pain.

And she changed my life. (Insert dramatic music here)

We hopped in Neeley’s car and drove to a health food store where a magical wall filled with what seemed like hundreds of options of ear candles stood towering over me. Thankfully, Neeley was just as tuned in to the “higher price doesn’t always mean better” idea as I am now, so I learned you don’t have to pay with an arm and a leg to get amazing ear candling results. To make a long back story short, Neeley candled my ears that night and I never looked back. I remember having one done and cutting into the hollow ear candle to reveal an enormous clump of ear wax. I felt it as it had gently pulled itself from my ear canal. So strange, yet incredibly relaxing, especially since Neeley literally told me she would be close to setting my head on fire. In retrospect, I can’t believe I trusted her. She was totally messing with my head…literally. I especially remember laughing uncontrollably as Neeley pulled a fast one on me, telling me to get up and walk across the room after only one ear had been candled! Warning…don’t try that at home! Your sense of balance will be completely and hilariously off until BOTH ears are done! My kids love it.

Basically, you light the end of a hollow ear candle on fire while it’s inserted snugly into the ear. The smoke billows into the ear canal, loosens the wax, and a suction is created that sucks the wax out of the ear and into the candle. You stop the fire when the candle is around 3 or 4 inches from the head. Then you can cut it open and see your results (see the wax in Hudson’s ear candles in the featured image)! You’ll feel incredible!

So tonight, Hudson, our 8-year-old, came to me again. “Mommy! You said you would do it last night and forgot! My head is full! I need candled please!” He has been very stuffed up with a horrible cough and sore ears, so I knew it was definitely time. We do our whole family about every six months to stay ahead of ear issues. And yes, since we have been on top of it, we have not had one ear infection. It works. And it’s worth it.

But you learn through trial-and-error with ear candling. I get that trial-and-error, when dealing with fire and human heads, is frightening. So I put together a step-by-step detailed list for you! You can do it! My kids totally trust me…and let’s face it, I’m not the most gentle of moms. Phrases like, “Are you bleeding? No. Then you’re fine. Hop up and shake it off!” are very common for this mom of two boys.

You’ll need:

• Pillow for the head and blanket to cover the shoulders
• 2 ear candles (any kind is fine, but I do like the kind with a plastic tip inserted inside to be sure the smoke flows freely)
• One small bowl of water
• Metal Scissors
• Paper plate with hole cut in center just large enough to insert the ear candle
• Lighter

Here’s a pic of my setup:

Steps to follow:

1. Have the human (easier than saying boy or girl or man or woman) lay on the floor on his or her side. Lay the head on a pillow and cover shoulders with a blanket to protect from flying embers.
2. Cut a hole in the center of the paper plate just large enough to insert the ear candle and place the candle through it.
3. Have the human insert the small end of the ear candle into his or her ear snuggly and hold it in that position with hand under the paper plate (see pic above of my son).
4. Light the larger end of the ear candle with the lighter (human will hear crackling and it will increase).
5. 
6. Allow the ear candle to burn down a couple of inches and cut burned portion off occasionally.
   1. I know some people who don’t cut off the burned part but it gets too smokey for me and makes me nervous that it will fall.
   2. Don’t cut below where the flame is burning or it will put out the fire. You have to cut just above where it’s burning. (Yes, it will turn your scissors black.)
   3. When you cut, allow the portion you are cutting off to fall into the bowl of water. This will extinguish it immediately. You just have to be careful that you are cutting in the direction so the burned part will fall correctly off the tip of the scissors. This is why I cover the head with a paper plate just in case. Sometimes embers will fly off when I cut but the plate catches them instead of the head. And covering the shoulders too ensures my human won’t get burned.
7. After around three or four cuts, the fire should be around three or four inches from the head. Instead of cutting again, I simply grab the ear candle from the human where he or she was holding it. Remove it from the ear and immediately turn it over in the water, extinguishing the fire.
8. Cut off the burned portion of the ear candle.
9. Cut vertically to see the wax you just removed from your human!
10. If you want a good laugh, have your human stand up and try to walk normally.
11. Repeat the process for the other ear.

So there you have it!

My husband, Jeremy, our two boys, and I are full believers in ear candling and are happy to help you! You can learn more about us at www.jeremyandbailey.com. We are Christian co-authors and motivational speakers…a real family with real issues and we just want to help as many as we can. Find our first publication detailing our journey on Amazon; it’s called “Never Alone: A Husband and Wife’s Journey with Depression and Faith”.

Be sure to like “Jeremy and Bailey Koch” on Facebook.

Happy ear candling!