If used correctly, are q-tips good for cleaning out ears, wax, etc? i saw a commercial saying they were harmful for our ears.

Q tips may cause : Harm if used in the ear canal. You could perforate your ear drum, impact ear wax further, cause injury to the tissues of the external ear canal or ^ chance of infection. Q tips can be used to clean the out ear (not in the canal).

Occasionally yes: If one needs to use qtip occasionally to rid of the soft wax, it is ok. Using qtip too often may lead to infection in the external ear canals by removing the protective layer of skin . In general qtip is not the best way to remove earwax . There are commercials kits in drug stores for earwax removal if you want to do it yourself.

Varies some: The wax is made in the outer half of the canal and is likely to fall out in time if left alone.The adult canal is wide enough to permit some retrieval of wax if limited to just inside the entrance.Further penetration just pushes the wax toward the drum, decreases its chance to shed naturally and increases blockage. The canal in kids is so tight, it just pushes it in. Drum damage does occur in some.