It can be a common habit—after a shower or getting out of the pool, grabbing a cotton-tipped swab to clean out one's ears to help get rid of excess water, or to remove what one thinks is earwax ...

It’s one of those bodily substances most of us prefer not to think about. Earwax, that sticky, sometimes smelly stuff you clean out of your ears, seems like nothing more than an annoyance. But before ...