Hypersensitivity to noise?

I was diagnosed with MS in 1993 and have been in remission until July 2007.  I believe I had a relapse but this has not been confirmed by a neurologist.  I have been having trouble with my ears lately and I am wondering if it could be related to MS and if a hearing test will help to find a diagnosis.

The problem is that I become incredibly sensitive to noises at certain pitches and when this happens the pain is deep in my ear and I liken it to having someone poke a sharp needle into my ear.  Emptying the dishwasher is the one thing I dread to do daily because the sound of the dishes clanging together is excrutiating.  I also find that when I am talking in a group of people and have to raise my voice to a certain level it becomes so painful that I have to cease speaking!  There are other noises that bother me as well like the dog barking and alarms.  My hearing has always been good in that not much gets by me (to the chagrin of hubby).  This is an excrutiating pain though and my gp is supposed to set up a hearing test for me but will a hearing test be able to diagnosis a problem such as this?  I have also been diagnosed with Paratrigeminal Neuralgia if that has any bearing on your answer.

I appreciate you taking the time to read my post and hopefully be able to shed some light on this problem.

Sincerely,

Rena705

[Eric Genden, MD]

The problem that you are describing is referred to as hyperacusis. It may be the result of several underlying etiologies however the problem results from a dysfunction of the innervation to the tensor tympani muscle, a small muscle that acts to dampen the osicular response to a loud noise. Both trigeminal nueralgia and or MS can cause this problem, however trigeminal neuralgia is the most likely cause- the good news is that it often is self limited and should resolve over time.