--- title: Don’t put burning candles in your ears, FDA says description: As the L.A. Times health blog reports, the Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning advising consumers not to use "ear candles"—fabric that is... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7144854/dont-put-burning-candles-in-your-ears-fda-says/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2010-02-19T18:35:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-19T02:15:23.906Z article:section: Health og:title: Don’t put burning candles in your ears, FDA says og:description: As the L.A. Times health blog reports, the Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning advising consumers not to use "ear candles"—fabric that is... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7144854/dont-put-burning-candles-in-your-ears-fda-says/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Don’t put burning candles in your ears, FDA says twitter:description: As the L.A. Times health blog reports, the Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning advising consumers not to use "ear candles"—fabric that is... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) # Don't put burning candles in your ears, FDA says > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=597d3ace-a820-4afd-b520-a10736f64522&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Feb 19, 2010 6:35 PM UTC by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Feb 19, 2010 6:35 PM UTC  As the _L.A. Times_ [health blog](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster%5Fshots/2010/02/another-fda-warning-this-time-about-ear-candles.html) reports, the Food and Drug Administration recently issued a [warning](http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm200277.htm) advising consumers not to use “ear candles”—fabric that is soaked in either paraffin or beeswax, set on fire and deliberately placed in the ear. These candles, which allow wax to drip into the ear canal (if you don’t set your hair on fire first), supposedly help with a range of ailments including ear infections, sinus infections and sore throats. For those ear candle devotees, warm [olive oil](http://www.deafnessresearch.org.uk/Earwax+1887.twl) poured into the ear is a good home remedy for getting out some excess wax build-up, and doesn’t involve flame near your lobes. Sheesh, and doctors thought they had to worry about their patients shoving Q-tips in too far. Read the full _L.A. Times_ post [here](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster%5Fshots/2010/02/another-fda-warning-this-time-about-ear-candles.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7144854/dont-put-burning-candles-in-your-ears-fda-says/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7144854/dont-put-burning-candles-in-your-ears-fda-says/"},"headline":"Don't put burning candles in your ears, FDA says","datePublished":"2010-02-19T18:35:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-19T02:15:23.906Z","description":"As the L.A. 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