I also get mild tinnitus for the last 6 or so years due to earwax (once it got completely blocked and I had to go to the doctor to have them irrigate it back out).
I don't use cotton or any scraping right now, but I do use the same stuff the doctor used to irrigate it every once in awhile, to middling effect.
I've had great success with the ~$20 ear pump devices available at your local drug store. They look like a normal squirt bottle with a tube tip, you fill it up with warm water and just keep squeezing. I'm not sure what the scope would do for me... I can hear the ear is clogged, I don't need a visual confirmation.
I have been using these at least twice a month since high-school (20+ years) after having multiple dramatic ear infections that rendered me temporally unable to hear due to clogging. I was just at the ENT doc last week and he confirmed that my ears 1) look and function great and 2) there is no damage, at all, from using these mini turkey baster like devices when they are used correctly. I highly recommend them, but your own experience may differ and you should probably check with an ENT doc just to be sure.
I find that process uncomfortably loud, and I worry about damaging my ear with too much pressure. I also find it difficult to tell if it's working or if it's finished, especially if the ear is not plugged all the way yet, which I want to avoid.
The endoscope is faster, easier, more comfortable, and makes it possible to clean when the ear is not actually plugged and verify that it worked.
In India a common practice is to go to a doctor (G.P.) who uses a foot-long syringe to irrigate your ears with warm water. It is supposed to soften the wax which then either comes out by itself when you tilt your head (lying down) after the syringing, or can be removed easily by earbud etc.
The vast majority of poor and lower middle class Indians dont go to a doctor, they just go to an ear cleaner who sit on the streets and will do the job for you in 5 to 10 minutes for a dollar or two.
I also get mild tinnitus for the last 6 or so years due to earwax (once it got completely blocked and I had to go to the doctor to have them irrigate it back out).
I don't use cotton or any scraping right now, but I do use the same stuff the doctor used to irrigate it every once in awhile, to middling effect.
Maybe I'll try out that ear scope thing.