J’lem to offer free checkups for hearing awareness

Every year, more and more young people are losing their hearing because of exposure to high decibels.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Baby with headphones 370 (photo credit: reuters)
Baby with headphones 370
(photo credit: reuters)
Jerusalem’s Hadassah Academic College will conduct free hearing tests for the general public, performed by Hadassah University Medical Center ear-nose-and-throat specialists along with the college’s clinical-communications students on Tuesday as part of National Hearing Awareness Day events.
Events will be held on Tuesday, May 28 at starting at 8 a.m. in cooperation with various government and voluntary bodies.
Every year, more and more young people are losing their hearing because of exposure to high decibels from earphones connected to cellphones, MP3 players and computers as well as clubs and other entertainment places, according to Bekol, an organization of the hearing impaired.
Bekol said on Wednesday that 15 percent of students listen to MP3 players and other devices at such highsound levels that they pose risk of damaging their hearing.
The results of this damage are already apparent, as more than a third of students polled say after spending time in clubs and other noisy places, that they suffer from tinnitus, an unpleasant buzzing in their ears due to harm to their eardrums and other parts of the ear.
It added that the effects of chronic noise on hearing become perceptible in a gradual way and not suddenly.
The organization urged people to avoid exposure to noise; lower the volume of devices; wear earplugs at loud weddings and other noisy events; and go out for a break every once in a while to give their ears a rest.
If you feel you do not hear as well today as in the past, have difficulty hearing in noisy environments, that other people do not speak clearly; or if others complain that you put the radio or TV on too loud, you may be suffering from a hearing problem.