Cotton Swabs...

You think it's getting wax out, but it's only pushing wax in.

Cleaning out your ears with a cotton swab is a bad idea. A very bad idea. You might pick up a tiny amount of ear wax with the swabs as you smear it around but the bulk of the wax just gets compacted and jammed further into the outer ear canal. In fact, cotton swabs just make the problem worse. The swab works just like a trash compactor in your ear, jamming and compacting, jamming and compacting. Pretty soon, it’s time to go to the doctor to undo the damage you've done.