Do cotton balls in your ear help swimmers ear?

No: Swimmer's ear is misnomer for external otitis. This is an infection, dermatitis of the skin of the external ear canal. A cotton ball would only help if you want to prevent water from getting into the ear canal. External otitis may be the result of swimming, but is often the result from q-tip usage, fungal infections, bacterial infections, all involving the outer ear. No cotton balls won't help.