How Do I Know If I Have an Ocular Migraine?

To many people, a migraine headache is a migraine headache. They assume, falsely, that all migraines are pretty much the same. So when one of the 15% of our population that suffers from migraine says they have an ocular migraine, non-sufferers may raise a skeptical eyebrow. The truth is, however, that there are many different kinds of migraine.

Define Ocular Migraine

Migraine

An ocular migraine is a type of migraine that focuses on that part of the aura in which visual symptoms predominate. There may never be an actual headache.

Symptoms of Ocular Migraine

If you are familiar with regular migraine pain, and now hear of ocular migraine, you may very well ask, "How do I know if I have an ocular migraine? I have no headache."

An ocular migraine is sometimes called a migraine without headache. It is a migraine that distorts images when you look at them. The distortion usually begins in the image's center, and then moves to one side. Ocular migraine is likely to affect only one eye at a time. As an ocular migraine progresses, images may turn grey or wavy. You may even lose your sight temporarily.

Doctors differ in their understanding of ocular migraine. Some say that ocular migraine is more likely to occur as you get older. Others say it is typically seen in young adults. It can be quite frightening, as you may think you are losing your sight forever.

Physicians differ, too, in their understanding of ocular migraine symptoms. Some use the term to explain visual disturbances of aura without headache. Other use it to refer to one-sided blind spots in the field of vision, or blindness, that lasts less than an hour and is associated with a headache.

Do you have ocular migraine? With or without a headache, if you have the visual disturbances of an aura in only one eye, yours may be an ocular migraine.

Specific Symptoms of Ocular Migraine:

How do I know if I have an ocular migraine? I will have one or more of the following specific symptoms. See if any of these is true of you.

1. Holes in your field of vision - places where there is nothing. Perhaps you are looking at a flower, and the center of the flower is missing. Or you are watching television, and you can see the outside of the screen, but cannot see the center of the picture. When you close the unaffected eye, you can see that portion of the screen. The affected eye, however, has a blind spot.

2. When looking through the affected eye, you see everything as though hidden behind a shade of gray. It is as though you were watching television and someone slipped a piece of thin gray cloth over the screen.

3. Another test for ocular migraine is to see if the affected eye sees things as though looking through a window with rain streaming down over it. The watery glass effect will be limited to one eye.

Ocular Migraine Symptoms Are Temporary

Although you may feel, during an optical migraine episode, that you will never see clearly again, the symptoms are temporary and will not cause lasting damage to your eye.

While they are present, however, ocular migraine symptoms will interfere with daily activities such as reading and driving.

Why Ocular Migraine Is Not Just Another Migraine Aura

Ocular migraine and migraine with aura are very similar, and some people have difficulty distinguishing between the two. The source of the visual disturbances is the key. If it is migraine with aura, the source of visual trouble is the brain's occipital cortex. If it is ocular migraine, the source is the eye's retinal blood vessels.

Test Your Suspected Ocular Migraine

A relatively good test for ocular migraine is to cover or close one eye. If the symptoms remain, cover or close the opposite eye. If the symptoms stop, you probably have an ocular migraine. If the symptoms do not stop, but affect both eyes, you are probably experiencing traditional migraine aura.

CAUTION: Although yours may be ocular migraine, it may be something else. You are urged to seek advice from your physician. You will want to rule out serious eye disease, or a blood vessel disorder in vessels near the eye.

How Do I Know If I Have an Ocular Migraine?

Migraine

Migraine Ocular - The Eye Migraines

Vascular headaches are also known as migraines. There are different types such as ocular migraines. Although the specific reason why migraine occurs has yet to be known, migraines are thought to be caused by the dilation and constriction of arteries in the brain. These headaches can start early in the morning and may be extremely painful. The pain is often limited to one side of the head and becomes more severe after about an hour or two. It may also gradually spread and may eventually be accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

A variation of migraine is the ocular migraine or opthalmoplegic migraine. It is believed to be caused by dilations and constrictions of arteries but the most affected ones are the ocular blood supply to the vision center of the brain. It is also believed to be due to nerve palsy or problems with the internal carotid artery. Although this condition is rare, it can still be extremely painful and is often accompanied by double vision and other types of visual disturbances, nausea and vomiting. Other symptoms include sensitivity to light, glare or haloes around lights, burning eyes, etc. In some extreme cases, the person experiencing ocular migraine can have a permanent neurologic deficit due to low blood flow and oxygen in the brain. However, most of the symptoms vary and depend on what triggered the migraine.

Migraine

Some external factors are believed to be the start for the occurrence of migraine. Some primarily involve overtiredness. Ocular migraines typically occur after long periods of reading, watching television, using the computer work, and other activities that may stress the eyes. Food may also serve as external factors that bring on the onslaught of ocular migraine. These foods may include red wine, chocolate, milk, chicken livers, preserved meats foods prepared with monosodium glutamate and others. Biological factors can also be causes of migraines such as stress, alcohol consumption, hunger, or the use of oral contraceptives. It also includes serious body conditions such as sinus conditions, hypertension, allergies, tumors, angle-closure glaucoma and others.

Treatment for ocular migraine starts with a doctor. A doctor will routinely obtain a thorough and complete medical history. He will also perform a thorough physical exam to rule out several causes for ocular migraine such as systemic ones. Ophthalmologists often also play a role since they will be the ones to verify that no eye-related problems that are bringing on the ocular migraine.

In cases wherein a doctor is not easily accessible or is unavailable at the moment, stress relief, control of blood pressure, or medication to maintain may also help. Management of a migraine also includes avoiding any triggering factors, together with prophylactic or preventive treatment, if necessary. In some cases, it is best to rest in a quiet, darkened room until symptoms subside. Medications such as simple analgesic can be taken right away. These provides some immediate relief, but may not completely get rid of the migraine. Treatment options can be discussed with a doctor during check-up, especially in cases of acute migraine attacks.

Migraine Ocular - The Eye Migraines

Migraine

Migraine Symptoms

You Think You Have Migraine? Check the symptom list.

There has been lots of research on a migraine field lately and now there is safe and natural solution to cure your migraine.Before you can understand how to cure your migraine, you also have to learn to understand what causes it for you and the consequences you may suffer because of migraine is something you just have to know.

Migraine

Do you ever wonder if your migraine episodes are dangerous to your health? Migraine has been underestimated for years even though it may damage your nervous system. Your brain may be in danger every time you have a migraine episode. So it is a big time to do something about it.

Here is symptom list for you to check:

Visual spots Blind spots in visual field Zig-zag lines in vision Visual hallucinations Eye-Ache Throbbing Head Pain Nausea Vomiting Neck /back pain Food sensitivities Sensitivity To Light Sensitivity To Sound Headache Keeping You Awake Low Self-Esteem Anxiety Depression Feeling "Doomed" Fear Of Migraine Attacks

Migraine symptoms can change over time. They can also get worse. If you find several of these symptoms fitting your condition you may suffer from migraine. If it contains visual and blind spots or zig zag lines in vision, you really need to do something for it. Not just suffer the attacks.

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Migraine Symptoms

Migraine