I think if you are careful there is little risk of rupturing your eardrum. That being said...
I have ruptured my eardrum with a q-tip.
It wasn't my finest moment. My wife was behind me and said something. I turned to ask her what she had said and I hit my elbow, jabbing the q-tip into my eardrum.
That hurt like hell, but it didn't actually rupture on the spot. It wasn't until later that evening, when my wife and I were watching TV, and it suddenly sounded like the television was under water. I looked at my wife and asked what the hell happened to the TV, she freaked out and said blood was coming out of my ear. Interestingly, I did not feel any pain when that happened.
It took over a month before everything sounded normal again
I have ruptured my eardrum with a q-tip.
It wasn't my finest moment. My wife was behind me and said something. I turned to ask her what she had said and I hit my elbow, jabbing the q-tip into my eardrum.
That hurt like hell, but it didn't actually rupture on the spot. It wasn't until later that evening, when my wife and I were watching TV, and it suddenly sounded like the television was under water. I looked at my wife and asked what the hell happened to the TV, she freaked out and said blood was coming out of my ear. Interestingly, I did not feel any pain when that happened.
It took over a month before everything sounded normal again