dbachman@observer-reporter.com

Tanya Chaney hopes to fire up the crowd when Boomer-Palooza returns Monday to the Chamber Plaza in Charleroi.

Chaney, a certified massage therapist who operates Chaney's Natural Health and Wellness, will demonstrate ear candling throughout the event, which is scheduled to be held from 3 to 8 p.m.

All of the vendors and entertainment are aimed at men and women born between 1946 and 1964.

"Not many people target that group," said Kathy Costantino, Washington County supervisor for Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services, Area Agency on Aging Inc., which is sponsoring the event.

Costantino said local businesses and restaurants will showcase products and services that include leisure activities, skin regeneration, hair replacement and social programming.

Even though Chaney admits there are many opposing viewpoints when it comes to ear candling, she's been safely doing it for seven years.

"Most of the unsafe reports are about people catching their house on fire," she said. "If done properly, it's quite safe."

Ear candling involves a hollow, conical tube made of unbleached muslin, paraffin wax and beeswax and, of course, a candle.

"It's voodoo looking, and some people are freaked out about it," Chaney said.

The candle is lit at the opposite end of the muslin, creating smoke and heat that's drawn down through the cone and into the ear. The heat softens the ear wax, helping those who may be experiencing earaches, fluid in the ear, sinus congestion headaches or dizziness.

"There's not a lot of science behind it," Chaney said. "It does help people, and it's simple enough. I do it to my husband once a month."

Chaney said her husband has had ear irrigation, which not only can be quite painful, but also increase the risk of rupturing the eardrum.

With ear candling, however, "you don't feel a thing."

"You may have to do ear candling a couple times to get the same results," she said, "but there's nothing being forced in your ear."

During a procedure, clients will hear crackling and they will feel the warmth.

"As the candle burns down, I don't let it get to the range where it will burn someone or start a fire. I don't let it get so low that it's dangerous," Chaney said.

Chaney has started to market many of her services, which include massages, spa treatments, facials and waxing, to the senior crowd, taking educational messages about the benefits of massage therapy to the Center on the Hill in Belle Vernon and Riverside Place in Charleroi.

At Boomer-Palooza, she plans to provide free five-minute paraffin hand treatments. During the popular spa treatment, Chaney double dips the hands in wax, then bags them, allowing the hands to absorb nutrients from the wax.

"The main benefit is the soothing of arthritis pain," Chaney said. "But it also makes your hands look younger in two seconds."

Boomer-Palooza also will feature ballroom dancing, cooking demonstrations and health screenings, and Matt Ryan, a member of the "Legends in Concert" cast in Las Vegas, will perform a musical tribute to Bruce Springsteen at 5 and 7 p.m.

For more information or to obtain $1 off admission coupons, visit the Boomer-Palooza Web site, www.boomerpalooza.org.

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