The external ear consists of the most visible ear structure, called the pinna or auricle, and the ear canal. This part of the ear acts as a sound collector to guide sound waves down the ear canal so that they impinge against the eardrum or tympanic membrane causing it to vibrate. The shape and features of the pinna help us in identifying where sounds are coming from. In locating the direction of sounds, we also depend on the fact that we have two ears so the brain can compare the sound arriving at one ear versus the other.

The pinna, of course, is useful to keep eyeglasses from sliding down our face and is often used to attach decorative jewelry.

Lying beneath the outermost part of the ear canal are glands that produce earwax or cerumen. The skin covering the ear canal is very thin, especially farther down the canal, near the tympanic membrane. Because of this, one should avoid pushing cotton swabs or anything else down the ear canal since abrasion of the skin can cause bleeding and increase the risk of injury or infection.