Cotton swabs: Even many adults are unaware of the dangers of these hygiene products. While they are designed to clean the ears, they are not meant to be inserted in the ear canal. We are likely all guilty of doing this, and our kids may mimic our use of these swabs. Children of all ages, but especially those under 3 have been sent to the emergency room for “the presence of a foreign body and tympanic membrane perforation.” according to Popsugar. They also reported a shocking statistic released by The Journal of Pediatrics which revealed that from 1990 to 2010, more than 263,000 children had been treated in emergency rooms for cotton-tip-applicator-related ear injuries in the United States.