14,385 votes and 870 comments so far on Reddit

In the emergency department its quite common to pull out the cotton from a qtip from an ear canal. Sometimes the presentation is pain and you find this black mass in someones ear. You pull out and its cotton mixed with earwax.
Always the reply oh I didnt know that was even in there.
Never saw an infection related to it. I havent seen a perforation related to the but thats biggest issue. Either perforating the eardrum or leaving a foreign body that puts you at risk of irritation, pain, potentially a fungal infection.
More interesting pulling bugs out of ears. Foreign bodies are fun regardless.