Cotton swabs cause thousands of ear injuries each year, study finds

When Vidya Raman's son complained of water in his ear after a shower, she did something many mothers do. She grabbed a cotton swab.But her pre-teen son jerked when she inserted the swab. Her son cried and there was blood in his ear.The boy's eardrum had been perforated."This minor thing, this minor accident, resulted in a major thing," said Raman, of Northwest Columbus, Ohio.Injuries such as this are common, according to a new study that shows an average of 34 children visit [...]