“This treatment was used to relieve ear infections, and drain the contents of your ear. My Venezuelan grandmother would roll paper into a funnel shape, and then stick the small end in my ear, then light the larger opposite end on fire. It would burn down towards my head, and before the fire got too close to my head, she would remove the cone. Then I would lean to the opposite side, and wipe out the contents of my ear. Afterwards she would insert a small piece of cotton in the ear.”

Subject’s Analysis:

“She applied it to me during childhood. I thought it was insane because I couldn’t understand how it was supposed to work. She learned it from her mother Esperanza when she was in Venezuela and couldn’t afford medicine or even just medical clinics.”

Collector’s Analysis:

I think that this is the perfect example of folk medicine that actually works. The process actually helps to drain the infected ear. That is really interesting,and also good because of the fact not everyone can afford to pay for medicine or medical care. I think that I would be scared as well if my grandmother started to light things on fire in close vicinity of my head.