Ocular Migraine

Ocular Migraine – Temporary Vision Loss/Migraine Headache

Ocular migraine also known as retinal migraine or visual migraine causes vision loss or blindness which could last less than an hour together with or following a migraine headache. It causes brief attacks of blindness or visual problem such as flashing lights in one eye. It is a retinal disease accompanied by migraine headache affecting only one eye and is caused by an infract or vascular spasm in or behind the eye which is affected.

These instances could be alarming though in most of the cases they are harmless and short-lived and the eyes gets back to normal after sometime. Terms like `retinal migraine’ and `ocular migraine’ are very often mixed up with an abnormal condition in the brain – cortical spreading depression which could cause similar symptoms like scintillating scotoma which may affect the vision of both the eyes and could also be associated with migraine headaches.

Some may get a retinal migraine every few months but the frequency could vary. The symptoms according to the International Headache Society defined as retinal migraine comprises of vision problems affecting one eye such as flashing lights, blindness in the eye and blind spots in the field of vision. The vision loss could be a complication of retinal migraines.

Symptoms 

Headaches which tends to last from 4 to 72 hours could affect one side of the head, which could be felt moderately or could be painful, pulsate in intensity and feel worse when active, physically. Besides these, other symptoms could also include, nausea, vomiting, with unusual sensitivity to sound and light.Several people tend to have a problem in identifying the difference between blindness in one side of their vision or flashing lights though it involves both eyes but these symptoms are only in one eye.

 Regular migraine with an aura which could involve flashing lights and blind spots in vision seems to be a common problem which affects around 20% with migraine though in these cases the symptoms tend to appear usually in one side of their field of vision and in both eyes. Checking with each eye separately could give an understanding on the condition, affecting one eye or both.

Causes of Ocular Migraine

The cause of ocular migraine is not known though some are of the opinion that the problem could be related to spasms in blood vessels in the retina, the delicate lining in the back of the eye or changes that could spread across the nerve cells in the retina. Individual who tend to have these migraines could be at higher risk of developing permanent vision loss in one eye.

Retinal migraine could be triggered by smoking, high blood pressure, stress, hormonal birth control pills, bending over, exercise, dehydration, low blood sugar and excessive heat. After a while the blood vessels tend to relax and the blood flow resumes with the eyesight returning back to normal. There are no abnormalities usually within the eye and permanent damage to the eye is very rare.

Treating this condition involves taking pain relief for headaches as well as refraining from exposure to things which could trigger the retinal migraine. Other medications could also be administered if considered necessary by the physician.