It may start as a small hole of light, sometimes bright geometrical lines and shapes in your visual field. This visual aura may expand into a sickle- or C-shaped object, with zigzag lines on the leading edge. As it moves, it may appear to grow.
Migraine aura symptoms include temporary visual or other disturbances that usually strike before other migraine symptoms — such as intense head pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine aura usually occurs within an hour before head pain begins and generally lasts less than 60 minutes.
No, migraine auras are not dangerous. They're a normal part of migraine headaches. Migraine aura can happen during a migraine attack, usually in the hour before headache pain begins. Most people have some combination of visual and physical symptoms.
It's important to visit a doctor if you experience migraine aura without headache frequently. This can help rule out other conditions that cause aura or visual disturbances and get an accurate diagnosis. “Episodic aura without headache is usually not a problem. It's a nuisance.
The three types of migraine aura
Visual aura is the most common and accounts for 90% of all auras. Visual aura can present as seeing spots, zig zags, flashes or even losing sight for a short time.
Aura is a series of sensory disturbances that happen shortly before a migraine attack. These disturbances range from seeing sparks, bright dots, and zig zags to tingling on one side of the body or an inability to speak clearly, and usually last 20-60 minutes.
If you have migraine with aura, you're about twice as likely to have an ischaemic stroke in your lifetime, compared to those without migraine. However, the overall risk linked to migraine is still very low, and you're far more likely to have a stroke because of other risk factors like smoking and high blood pressure.
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.
If you notice migraine aura or other migraine warning signs, stop whatever you're doing as quickly as possible. Take any medications recommended by your healthcare provider. Find a dark, quiet room and sleep if you're able.
Harsh lighting, long screen time, other visual strain, stress, dehydration, food additives, and other causes all may trigger an ocular migraine, a subtype that focuses in the eye and causes vision changes.
What Causes a Migraine Aura Without a Headache? Factors that can trigger a migraine aura without a headache are the same factors that trigger one that's followed by head pain—stress, weather changes, food with MSG, light, and demographic factors that increase a person's risk of migraines like genetics.
Visual auras or scotomas are not blur. A visual aura is a transient or longstanding visual perceptual disturbance experienced with migraine or seizure that may originate from the retina or the occipital cortex.
Aura is often visual, appearing as spots, flashes, zig-zags or other disturbances in both eyes. It can also involve physical sensations like numbness and tingling, and it can affect speech or language. It is possible to experience migraine aura without headache.
Migraines, which often begin in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood, can progress through four stages: prodrome, aura, attack and post-drome. Not everyone who has migraines goes through all stages.
Most auras are black-and-white. Color-filled auras are reported by approximately 20-30% of people. A change in color perception may accompany an aura. Colors can either appear faded or brighter than usual.
Auras are not the same for all people, so you also might experience bright spots or flashes. Auras are sometimes accompanied by a partial loss of vision referred to as a scotoma. Auras commonly last 10 to 30 minutes. A sensory aura is also common.
A migraine-aura triggered seizure is defined as a seizure that occurs due to a migraine with aura and is not observed in migraines without aura. Experts suggest that migraine aura-induced seizures occur due to electrical changes in the brain that accompany an aura.
Migraines can begin at any age, though the first often occurs during adolescence. Migraines tend to peak during your 30s, and gradually become less severe and less frequent in the following decades. Sex. Women are three times more likely than men to have migraines.
Headaches that are linked to high blood pressure are often described specifically as a pounding, tight, or banging pain, sometimes with a migraine-like 'aura'.
People with ocular migraines can have a variety of visual symptoms. Typically you will see a small, enlarging blind spot (scotoma) in your central vision with bright, flickering lights (scintillations) or a shimmering zig-zag line (metamorphopsia) inside the blind spot.
The kind of stroke that tends to be mistaken for a migraine is called a transient ischemic attack, or TIA. It's also known as a "mini stroke" because blood flow to your brain is cut off only for a short time. Symptoms are less severe than with a regular stroke and may last less than an hour.
There's a small risk that the reduced bloodflow may damage the thin layer at the back of the eye (the retina) and the blood vessels of the eye. This will be monitored in your follow-up appointments. Permanent vision loss is rare.
Meanwhile, a history of migraine is associated with a higher risk of dementia (OR = 1.32; 95% CI: 1.13–1.40; I2 = 75.6%, P < 0.001), but the risk is lower than that of non-migraine headache patients (Table 2).
Without moving your eyes, scan the outer perimeter of your head and shoulders. The color you see surrounding your head and shoulders is your aura. Another way to find your aura is to stare at your hands for approximately one minute. The glow you see radiating from the outside lining of your hands is your aura.