Learn more about the signs and symptoms of a retinal migraine, as well as the possible risks. If a person does not receive prompt treatment for migraine conditions, they may become more sensitive to the symptoms each time they occur. This process can lead to chronic daily headaches or migraine episodes.
If you have visual symptoms that have not previously been evaluated by a health care provider, you should see a provider if you have any of the following: Visual changes in only one eye. Visual changes that last less than five minutes and more than 60 minutes. Visual changes without a headache.
Looking at a computer screen or reading for long periods of time. Certain foods like nitrates or MSG. Changes in weather or barometric pressure. Hormonal changes.
Retinal migraine (ocular migraine) is an eye condition that causes brief attacks of blindness or visual problems like flashing lights in 1 eye. These episodes can be frightening, but in most cases they're harmless and shortlived, and eyesight goes back to normal afterwards.
With ocular migraines, it is somewhat difficult to tell whether you are having the symptoms in one of your eyes or both of them. You would have to close one eye to know which one is experiencing the symptoms. Expect a headache that lasts from four hours to 72 hours, and it: Feels either moderately or severely painful.
Ocular Migraine Treatment
The visual portion of an ocular migraine usually lasts less than 60 minutes, so most people don't need treatment. It's best to stop what you're doing and rest your eyes until your vision goes back to normal. If you have a headache, take a pain reliever that your doctor recommends.
Migraine auras can be confused with transient ischaemic attack (TIA), where someone has stroke symptoms that pass in a short time. For instance, a migraine with only a visual aura but no headache may be mistaken for TIA. Like a stroke, a migraine can be sudden and can lead to mild confusion.
Like other types of migraine, harsh lights and electronic screens can be triggers. Straining your eyes by staring at a screen for long periods of time, spending time in fluorescent or other harsh lighting, driving long distances and other taxing visual activities can increase your risk for attacks.
In general, migraines likely involve alterations of blood flow to certain regions of the brain. In the case of ocular migraines, the involved area is the vision center of the brain.
But during a migraine, these stimuli feel like an all-out assault. The result: The brain produces an outsize reaction to the trigger, its electrical system (mis)firing on all cylinders. This electrical activity causes a change in blood flow to the brain, which in turn affects the brain's nerves, causing pain.
To be diagnosed with an ocular migraine condition, your doctor must rule out any underlying causes for the symptoms you are experiencing such as blood clot, stroke, pituitary tumor, or detached retina. If your retina exam is normal, it is possible that you are experiencing ocular migraines.
Retinal migraines are rare, affecting 1 in 200 migraine sufferers. Retinal migraines cause repeated temporary episodes of blindness in just one eye.
Diagnosing an Ocular Migraine
If you are experiencing any kind of impairment to your vision similar to the symptoms above, it is always important to discuss those with your doctor. A neurologist can help a patient distinguish between whether they are experiencing migraine aura or more serious retinal migraines.
Focal seizures and seizure aura can mimic migraine aura. Visual migraine aura can be confused for occipital seizures and vice versa, although symptoms are classically distinct.
You might feel confident in your ability to safely travel. But the American Migraine Foundation advises people with migraine to avoid driving during any stage of a migraine episode since symptoms can get suddenly worse.
Stress is a common trigger of migraine headaches, including ocular migraine headaches. Since anxiety causes stress, anxiety is a common cause of migraine headaches, including ocular migraine headaches.
In participants with migraine with visual aura in late middle age, increased risk of cardioembolic stroke was observed. Migraine with visual aura was linked to increased stroke risk, while migraine without visual aura was not, over the period of 20 years. These results are specific to older migraineurs.
TIA appears more abruptly and is usually of shorter duration. Negativity is typical for it, i.e. part of the visual field, speech, eye movement, ability to swallow, sensation or muscle strength disappear without the above mentioned features of migraine.
People who have migraines with aura are more likely to have strokes caused by either a blood clot in the heart (cardio-embolic stroke) or a clot within the brain's blood vessels (thrombotic stroke), compared to those that don't have migraines with aura, according to research presented at the American Stroke ...
Migraines may progress through four stages: prodrome, aura, attack and postdrome. Not everyone experiences all the stages.
A visual migraine is a temporary visual distortion that often begins with a small sparkling, shimmering area that slowly expands outward. The growing spot often has jagged, zig-zag edges. The visual symptoms typically last approximately 20-30 minutes and then completely resolve.
Pain behind the eye that can mimic migraine symptoms may be caused by a condition called optic neuritis, which can occur with an MS relapse, says Yacoub. Optic neuritis is swelling of the eye's optic nerve, which carries light signals from the retina to the brain.
Imaging tests.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is commonly used to help diagnose brain tumors. Sometimes a dye is injected through a vein in your arm during your MRI study.
A regular, routine eye test can sometimes detect eye problems that indicate the presence of a brain tumour before any symptoms become obvious. An eye test is particularly good at identifying any swelling of the optic disc (a condition called papilloedema) and can also identify when there is pressure on the optic nerve.