Ear candling, also called ear coning or thermal-auricular therapy, is an alternative medicine practice claimed to improve general health and well-being by lighting one end of a hollow candle and placing the other end in the ear canal.
The basic claim is that the heat from the flame melts and loosens the ear wax and creates negative pressure that 'sucks the wax into the candle. This is referred to as the 'chimney effect'.