[WillowTheWhisp]

Whilst wandering around some "health" websites yesterday - inspired by my latest resolution to lose weight and get fit (more about that elsewhere) we spotted a reference to "ear coning".

"Ear coning?" I hear you ask. "What the heck is that?" - That's what we wondered, so I did some googling and discovered that an ear cone is a hollow wax taper about 12" long made of cotton or hemp fabric soaked in beeswax and possibly various other ingredients. The cone is slotted through a paper plate and the end placed in one's ear. The other end is then lit and the whole thing is allowed to burn down as far as the plate before being removed from the ear.

The bottom of the cone is then said to hold impurities drawn out from the ear by a "slow vacuum" (eh?) and apparently it can clear the sinuses too - regardless of the fact that the sinuses are not connected to the ear!

Oh I forgot to add that the "patient" lies on their side whilst all this is going on and not surprisingly some people have suffered damage to their ear drums by the hot wax dripping down the inside of the "cone" into their ear!

What on earth possesses people to do this?