My anecdote is that I've tried to clear out wax with a Q-tip only to "clog" the ear. I could still hear a little out of the affected ear, and it wasn't painful,

My anecdote is that I've tried to clear out wax with a Q-tip only to "clog" the ear. I could still hear a little out of the affected ear, and it wasn't painful, but it was very annoying. The only thing that eventually fixed it was flushing the ear with lots of warm water to get the wax plug out.