Do I Have A Ruptured Eardrum?

Question

So I used to clean my ears every day. Probably not the best idea as I am now learning. My one ear now has a feeling of fullness to it like its clogged, it isn't really bad or painful but a few days ago it was a little bloody and had some clear drainage. Have I ruptured my ear drum by shoving a Q-tip in my ear so much?

Answer 1

If you had hit your eardrum, you would have experienced excruciating pain. I doubt it's ruptured.

Bleeding in the external ear canal isn't uncommon; it's the thinnest skin on the human body and is very vulnerable to injury. The clear drainage is probably water that's gotten behind a plug of earwax that you've shoved in there via Q-tip use.

The external canal has out-facing hairs which move the wax toward the outside of the ear, so when the wax gets shoved in there, the hairs can't buck the tide, so to speak, and the wax just gets packed tighter and tighter; ergo, fullness due to external blockage.

I would see a doctor (preferrably an ENT) and get my ears irrigated.