"I stuck my finger in my ear and could feel my nail scraping something," Hoffman told Newsweek, initially suspecting it might be a piece of the Q-tip stuck inside her ear.

Schwartz emphasized that the main issue with Q-tips is that you really don’t need to clean wax out of your ears yourself, with a Q-tip or anything else—so why risk the potential complications ...

While Q-tip buyers aren’t supposed to use them to clean their ears, one man says he used a whole box to clean his. And he did so unapologetically. In a video with over 2.3 million views ...

If you’ve stuck a Q-tip (or other type of cotton swab) in your ear, it’s probably crossed your mind once or twice: How far can I go? It probably crossed your mind again if you’re a fan of ...

Okay, yesterday afternoon, my ears were feeling a little bit waxy, so I decided it would be a good idea to clear out some wax with a q-tip. I stuck it into my left ear and swabbed a bit out, then ...

Consumer Reports tells you the steps to remove an earbud tip stuck in your ear, sharing advice from medical professionals. Also learn how to keep it from happening again.

So my trying to remove water with a Q-tip actually created a vicious cycle? Exactly. So number one, you should leave the wax in your ears because it waterproofs them.

"I stuck my finger in my ear and could feel my nail scraping something," Hoffman told Newsweek, initially suspecting it might be a piece of the Q-tip stuck inside her ear.