FIONA GRIFFITHS meets a reflexologist who specialises in using traditional Hopi ear candles to treat patients

HAVING a burning candle placed inside your ear sounds more like a form of torture than a relaxing and beneficial therapy.

But, providing you are treated by a trained practitioner, ear candle therapy can be the answer to all sorts of sinus, ear, lymphatic and circulation problems.

Pam Eldridge trained to become an ear candle therapist because she was "fascinated" by the idea of the ancient and well-proven therapy.

Pam, 41, who lives and works in Romsey and is also a reflexologist, said: "It's a very soothing treatment. The heat of the candle creates a vacuum which is warming and gentle, and just gets the energy and the circulation going around the ears.

"It's good for various sinus problems, as well as tinnitus, and some people find it clears headaches quite well. It's a gentle alternative really to having your ear syringed, because any excessive wax just gets drawn very gently up the

candle."

She added: "It helps boost the lymphatic system and the metabolism, and it's generally a very good healing treatment. Personally I find it very warming and

relaxing."

Headaches, hayfever, sore throats, colds, catarrh, glue ear, tonsillitis, migraines, earache, sinusitis, itchy ears, eczema, rhinitis, flu, otitis media, excessive wax and mild hearing loss can all be relieved by ear candles.

The therapy dates back thousands of years to the Indians of North and South America, where it was traditionally used by Shamen healers. It was brought to Europe by the Hopi people, the oldest Pueblo tribe.

The traditional Hopi candles Pam uses to treat patients are not really candles at all, but hollow tubes of beeswax and other natural ingredients including honey extracts, sage oil, herbs and pesticide-free cotton.

A small plastic barrier inside the candle prevents any beeswax or debris from the ear falling back inside.

Pam asks her patients to lie on their side, before lighting the candle with a match and holding it over the ear for about 10 minutes.

The heat of the candle warms up the ear canal and starts to drain wax or congestion from the nose or throat.

Pam said: "It does get very warm but you burn down to a certain marked point on the candle. I normally recommend five treatments in a course, and then some people come for maintenance treatments three or four times a year."

Pam works above Maid Marion hair salon in The Hundred, Romsey. For more information call 07713 631408.