What Are the Treatments for an Ocular Migraine?
Migraine headache is well known as a severe headache often accompanied by auras or visual ("ocular") disturbances. Those visual manifestations, however, occasionally occur alone, without any headache pain. This "half a headache" is known as ocular migraine or optical migraine, although the more accurate name is ophthalmic (eye) migraine. These headaches, both painful and painless, occasionally run in families: Members seem to share a headache, with one member experiencing pain and another only the visual aspects.
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Symptoms
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The ocular migraine usually begins with a blind spot or a white light in the center of your vision. The light and blind spot gradually increase in size until you are nearly blinded. In the center of the blind spot, you might see shimmering spots or a shiny zigzag line of bright colors, often in an arc shape, increasing in size and moving through your field of vision. Dizziness, slight nausea and the feeling of drifting away often accompany the blinding sensation. In every occurrence, the aura always appears the same.
Episodes last anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour. During this time, you will not be able to continue reading or doing other activities if they require clear vision. It may be difficult to walk or even carry on a conversation. If you are driving, you must pull off the road and stop immediately.
Causes
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Migraines, either with or without pain, can be brought on by a number of triggers, including flashing lights, fluorescent lights, hormonal changes, or certain foods and medications including red wine, chocolate, milk and cheese, artificial sweeteners, caffeine and alcohol. Other possible triggers include tension, stress and fatigue. Actual causes are not known but are generally attributed to changes in blood flow to the brain.
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Treatments
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Ocular migraines are considered harmless with no lasting ill effects, but if you experience them often or with increasing frequency, or if the ocular migraines become accompanied by migraine pain, see your eye doctor. Ocular migraines are thought by some health professionals to be neurological and thus related to the brain, rather than the eye, and there is no specific treatment for them, but it is important to rule out any other condition that would require treatment, such as macular degeneration or retinal tears.
Certain migraine treatments, such as resting in a dark room or applying cold compresses to the forehead, may be effective for relieving ocular migraines. The use of biofeedback--a therapy in which people can be trained to control normally involuntary body processes--could also be productive for preventing persistent ocular migraines, as could such supplements as feverfew, an herb used for centuries as a headache treatment, and magnesium, a mineral found in foods and available as a supplement.
Several medications, both over-the-counter and prescription, are available for the treatment of migraine headaches. While these medications are not specifically targeted for ocular migraines, a doctor may prescribe or recommend these medications if the ocular migraines interfere too frequently with your daily activities.
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