# Hurts to look at corners



## always starting over (Mar 15, 2013)

I've had this problem as long as I can remember, and nobody I've ever met has had a clue about what it means.

It literally hurts my eyes to look directly at a corner or sharp edge. The tops of doors, the edge of a knife, a desk, anything. It makes me feel like I have to rub my eyes or look at something else immediately. I can't sit in class without using one hand to lean on, because of the physical pain that comes if I see a corner. It's the same with looking at the whiteboard. I have to see it indirectly because the sharp corner literally hurts my eyes.

I can't imagine other people have this issue, but I figured it's worth a shot. It's one of the worst parts of my anxiety issues, although it's not related to being social.

(Not trolling btw, this is completely serious)


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## wrongnumber (May 24, 2009)

I've read about this before. I don't know what it is. It doesn't remind me of OCD, because then it would probably involve some compulsion / obsession rather than actual pain. It sounds like some sensory processing problem. It may even be something to do with having trouble converging your eyes on a point. When I was googling it I couldn't find information about it but I did find quite a few others who have the same problem: link

*Edit* 
Just realised.. this actually may be a form of synaesthesia.


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## always starting over (Mar 15, 2013)

Thanks so much! I'm glad it's not just an isolated incident.


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## anonomousey (Apr 14, 2013)

k I just asked an optician in my family about this for you lol. He said a lot of stuff about muscles in the eyes and direct focus. But basically said if it's real physical pain you are most probably long-sighted and will need glasses. I hope that helps!


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## tehuti88 (Jun 19, 2005)

I think I experience this intermittently, though not to any extent that it's debilitating. Literally to focus on certain things almost hurts and I have to blink and roll and rub my eyes and not look at it for a bit. I've always associated it with some sort of physical issue focusing on items (I'm going nearsighted, myself).


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## always starting over (Mar 15, 2013)

anonomousey said:


> k I just asked an optician in my family about this for you lol. He said a lot of stuff about muscles in the eyes and direct focus. But basically said if it's real physical pain you are most probably long-sighted and will need glasses. I hope that helps!


My dad has to wear glasses, but I've always tested for 20/20 vision. It got slightly worse within the last year, but I didn't get recommended anything. It's interesting to hear that opinion though. I've always thought it was some kind of bizarre psychological problem that I had.

Maybe "pain" is too strong a word. It's more like extreme discomfort that makes me feel like I have no choice but to look away or rub my eyes.


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## Maxima (Aug 13, 2014)

I've had the exact same thing my entire life. I've learned to deal with it and can sometimes manage to ignore it but it is physically unbearable sometimes. I also cannot use eye drops or touch my eyes so even if contacts could help, I probably wouldn't use them. I had never met anyone else who had it until I was talking about it one day and my little sister spoke up and said she had it too! She has more trouble managing it than I do. She's not a fan of pencils or knives haha well anyways you're not alone.


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## john james wilson (Oct 20, 2014)

wow, i cant believe i found this, i have had the same thing all my life, im 34 and still its plaguing me, i have this pain even when im not looking at corners etc now. constantly having to touch my face around my eyes to keep the pain at bay. it really takes its toll on my life, i have been playing with the idea of seeing a doc for years but i was to embarrassed, this post has helped me alot,


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## Glovegly (Oct 12, 2015)

My 6 year old son seems to have a similar issue with his eyes. About two years ago he woke up one day really upset about his eyes hurting when he looked at sharp things. It seemed painful to him and we were afraid it might be something serious. We were able to see an eye doctor specialist right away and my son had a thorough exam and nothing unusual was found. Over the next few days, the problem subsided. Since then, every few months or so he complains about something looking too sharp and hurting his eyes, but it's never been as extreme as that first episode. Looking online and seeing this thread today is the first time we've been able to see any mention of this issue and to see that others seem to have a similar problem. I wish I knew what was causing it.


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## Cattrina (Nov 29, 2017)

I thin this is Visual Looming Syndrome


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## Clivy (Aug 13, 2017)

You probably have SEES(Sharp Edges Eyes Syndrome).


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## nelsonasher (Mar 7, 2018)

omgggggg, i have this!!!! it's get way worse when i look at a brick wall though it's like 1 million corners

*hope i dont put the thought of brick wall corners into anybody else's head :/ *


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## tehuti88 (Jun 19, 2005)

tehuti88 said:


> I think I experience this intermittently, though not to any extent that it's debilitating. Literally to focus on certain things almost hurts and I have to blink and roll and rub my eyes and not look at it for a bit. I've always associated it with some sort of physical issue focusing on items (I'm going nearsighted, myself).


I do not remember typing this and I don't know what I was talking about. :|


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## llodell88 (May 15, 2011)

tehuti88 said:


> I do not remember typing this and I don't know what I was talking about. :|


i've had those days around here a lot too lately.


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