Ear candling, also called ear coning or thermal-auricular therapy, is a popular non-intrusive procedure used in alternative medicine to clear earwax from a person's ear by lighting one end of a hollow candle and placing the other end in the ear canal. Ear candling is said to cure a wide range of medical problems, including chronic headaches, sinus infections, ear infections, sinus pain and pressure, and vertigo. When the inner ear and small sinus cavities get blocked with mucus, infection sets in. Ear candling can be used here to help open blocked passages.

Ear candles are made of cotton or linen that is wound into a cone shape, soaked in wax, and then allowed to harden. The hollow candle is then inserted through a hole in a plate designed to collect wax, and placed into the external ear canal. The candle is then lit at the opposite end. The patient may be lying on one side with the treated ear uppermost and the candle vertical, or be sitting up with the candle nearly horizontal. The flame is cut back occasionally and extinguished between two and four inches from the patient. Therapists say that the flame produces warm smoke that softens and loosens wax and other debris from the ear canal. This wax and debris is then collected into the remaining unburned portion of the candle. An ear candling session can last from 15 minutes to 45 minutes, and is described as pleasant and relaxing.