Phantom head pain?
For years I've suffered from an extremely unpleasant sensation in my head, and sometimes eyes, that appears to have no physical cause.
Before I describe it, the reason I'm posting here is that I once read a post on another autism-themed forum that described almost the exact same thing, which caused me to think that maybe the two are related.
The trigger appears to be mainly, but not exclusively, pointy things. [Pause for reader's sniggering here]
When I perceive pointed objects to be moving towards me, even if they are a long way away, on the other side of a window or just on TV, I feel as though they are causing me discomfort and/or pain in my forehead and eyes. Often I am forced to look away or close my eyes. As you can imagine I'm worried that this may one day be dangerous, as it's not uncommon to find long rows of traffic cones at the side of the motorway...
To a lesser extent, anything with sharp angles provokes the same response. Anything from road signs to shelving units can set me off, and once I become aware of it, it's very difficult not to notice other objects.
It's not a predictable thing - something that causes me a lot of discomfort on one day I might not even notice the next. For example, sometimes when unloading the dishwasher I feel as though I am in intense pain due to the knives and forks etc. being pointed straight up at me, but yesterday I was not.
Interestingly, I find that wearing something pressed around my forehead or above my eyes helps to reduce or even eliminate this sensation. It was not uncommon for me to play Gran Turismo while wearing a belt tied around my head to stop me "noticing" all the trees and scenery moving towards me on the screen. A baseball cap usually works to similar effect, but not always, and it's not always appropriate.
I'm curious to see if anyone else here experiences anything like this, or whether I simply have a 1st class ticket aboard the crazy train.
Any suggestions as to cause or cure are welcomed.
The suggestion bandied around by the only other person I've ever heard of having anything like this, is that it's caused by trying to take in too much of the surroundings at once - information overload, if you like. I'm not convinced this is what's going on with me, but I'm not ruling it out.
That's a visual processing thing. There are certain sensations that might make someone uncomfortable, and certain patterns can be among them. For me, seeing a bumpy surface with certain characteristics makes my scalp tingle in a very uncomfortable way. I have no idea why; it's probably yet another sensory quirk. (And it's probably a good idea to develop some coping skills for things like road cones, so that your aversion doesn't create a safety hazard.)
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