Why can't you clean your ears with cotton swabs?

Sulfur is a very useful substance. It is formed by special glands of the ear canal and with the help of the maxillary-mandibular joint responsible for chewing, it gradually moves outward, cleaning the ear canal from physical impurities - dust, exfoliated skin, microbes, as well as softening and moisturizing the skin of the ear canal. But if you intervene in this process, for example, with a cotton swab, then the movement is slowed down. And the most diligent lovers of "ear cleaning" can push the wax even deeper, gradually tamping directly to the eardrum and thereby completely clogging the ear canal. This is how a sulfur plug is formed.