Sixty percent of eardrum perforation cases occur due to the improper use of cotton swabs; these data are from a study conducted at the Henry Ford Health Center in Michigan, United States.

The greatest risk of eardrum perforation is present when we’re cleaning our external ear canal. This happens because the eardrum is only 2.4 cm away within the ear canal.

But what is the eardrum, and why is it so important? Well, the eardrum is a membrane that separates the outer ear from the middle ear, meaning any object introduced into this cavity can easily tear it.

Additionally, if we don’t use cotton swabs correctly, we’re only pushing more wax deeper into the ear.