[CAUT] Ear wax

[rufy at rcn.com]

Mr. Williams:

When it comes to medical issues, there are at least a dozen general reasons
that ANY OLD cockamamie "treatment" might seem to "work." An email in this
forum is not the place to explain that statement, but I offer some links
below that can be a start toward educating yourself on the importance of a
skeptical (i.e., scientific) approach to such matters.

I wish it were something that could be laid out in a few short paragraphs,
but it's not. We humanoids do tend to see cause-and-effect connections where
there are none . . . this is perhaps the main reason that Science has
developed over the last 400 years-- to find a reliable way of discovering
when there are such connections, and when not. Individuals (you and I
included) are not smart enough to do it on our own.

Personal testimonials may feel compelling but they are not to be trusted as
proof-- not even your own. I think that your "open ears today" are more
likely to be the result of an "Act of God" than of a useless and patently
absurd process like "ear candling" (this from a devout atheist, mind you).

Joseph Giandalone, RPT and Smart Aleck

Conway, MA


http://www.sram.org/   The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine

http://www.hcrc.org      "Health Care Reality Check"  (Georgia Council
Against Health Fraud)

http://www.csicop.org/
Home page of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, formerly the "Committee
for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal"-- hence
"CSICOP". They publish The Skeptical Inquirer, which is my favorite
magazine.

http://www.skeptic.com/
Home page of The Skeptics Society, publishers of Skeptic magazine.

http://www.skepdic.com/
Online home of The Skeptic's Dictionary, a concise reference which you can
also buy at a bookstore.

http://www.quackwatch.com
Probably the best online gateway to skeptical (that is, FAIR, SCIENTIFIC AND
EVIDENCE-BASED) evaluation of so-called alternative, complementary (and
downright wacko) medicine and medical practices.

http://www.ncahf.org/     National Council Against Health Fraud

http://www.snopes.com/snopes.asp    "the definitive Internet reference
source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation"

http://www.cspinet.org/     Center for Science in the Public Interest
(food, nutrition, dietary supplements-- and activism around food policy
issues.)



From: Paul T Williams <pwilliams4 at unlnotes.unl.edu>
Reply-To: caut at ptg.org
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2010 11:45:22 -0600
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Ear wax

No myth my friend.  Doubters.  How do you explain my open ears today, then?
Act of God? 

Paul 

From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos at comcast.net> To: <caut at ptg.org> Date:
12/01/2010 11:24 AM Subject: Re: [CAUT] Ear wax



Yet another urban health myth.  Below is just one site debunking this
sometimes dangerous and useless procedure.  There are many more.


http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1103/how-do-ear-candles-work
 

David Love 
www.davidlovepianos.com
 
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Zeno
Wood
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2010 8:55 AM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Ear wax
 
Paul,
This would be a good email for the PTG hearing list.
-Zeno 
On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 11:53 AM, Paul T Williams
<pwilliams4 at unlnotes.unl.edu> wrote:
Hi All, 

Have any of you ever done an "ear candle" to remove ear wax?  I did it last
night with my wife's help, and it's amazing how much better my ears are
working today!  It really sucks out a lot of junk you can't get with a
Q-tip. I had a cold a few weeks ago, and my ears have been bugging me ever
since.  Just plugged up.  I can open them up ala SCUBA style to equalize
pressure when diving, but they would just close back up a few minutes later.
Tuning wasn't so much of a problem, but voicing was really difficult before
I did this.  I'm still working on the Sty D with the new Steinway hammer
installation, and am in the final fine tuning of the voicing, and this
morning, it was much easier to hear what was going on.

Best, 
Paul 

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