Cotton Bud Stuck in Ears - Any Solution?

My ex-colleague called me a day ago for a medical solution about her little boy's ears. I was shocked to learn that she said he had a piece of cotton bud that had loosen from the 'stem' that holds the cotton. Oh dear, oh dear me. It was something that unfortunately I couldn't help.

The irony was, my husband had the same problem recently! He was cleaning his ears when he discovered that the 'stem' had no cotton at the tip! He panicked and asked me to look and see if the cotton was inside the ears. I looked and looked but unfortunately I couldn't see a thing. Our ears are not really a straight down canal, in fact it is more like an interwind loop that it is really difficult if what I saw was the cotton stuck or maybe part of his ear? We worried and tried to use a tweezer to take it out but since I wasn't sure, I thought it was not advisable at all. What if I punctured his ear drum?

That happened on the first day of Lunar New Year.. what a horrible day for him. So now that my friend had this problem, and the victim being her son, I suggested she consult the doctor because they have the proper device to look into the ears. That was what my hubby did few days after the incident. The doctor said there wasn't any cotton so he went to seek a second opinion and got the same answer. However he got some ear drops to soften some ear wax that had harden in the very deep part of his ears!

Have you ever come across a situation like that?