Some times I am not sure how I get myself into things….but life is short and like they say.. “while in China”…. My ear has been bothering me for the past few days and last night it was really a pain. So….on Tim’s suggestion I decided to try an Eastern form of treatment. The massage place that is close to our apartment offers what they call a heat treatment for your ears. It involves a burning candle, a paper cone, your ears, and some instruments that I can’t describe. It took a lot of guts for me to try this but hey…nothing ventured …nothing gained. This is the procedure….the candle goes into a paper cone…the cone goes into your ear…and then they light the candle. I think the candle wax drips down into the cone causing heat and making your ear feel better. While the candle wax is dripping into the bottom of the cone they massage your ear and surrounding area with oil. This part actually felt pretty good. But…..first of all…..I look completely ridiculous with a paper cone and a burning candle sticking out of my ear and secondly….I was not very relaxed because I was thinking about what could happen if she dropped the candle on the massage oil….I would go up in smoke. I kept telling myself to relax…they have probably been doing this since the Song Dynasty and they know what they are doing. Anyway…..the paper cone has been in each of my ears now for about 25 minutes each. The last part of the treatment is a little unnerving because they stick strange instruments into your ear and extract things that we don’t want to talk about. So…did it help my ear? I think it does feel a little better….but not 100% better. The jury is still out on the effectiveness of the candle treatment. I think I am going to have to follow up with a Western style of treatment. Darn!!