What Is Ocular Migraine? When Vision Problems Aren’t Just in Your Head
Have you ever experienced intense throbbing pain? from one side of the head, most especially? You’ve probably noticed other symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound accompanying it. That condition exactly right there is called migraine.
From several research studies, there are different migraine types, like the migraine with aura, the migraine without aura, chronic, menstrual, hemiplegic, abdominal, vestibular, and ocular or retinal migraines, also called ocular migraines. Studies show that about 18% of women and 6.5% of men experience migraines, which might not even be retinal migraines.
What Does Ocular Migraine Mean?
This particular type of migraine is linked with vision problems. Sounds really scary, right? having partial or total blindness in one eye can indeed be scary but with the right knowledge about this topic, you can feel more at ease. This article will do the job of breaking it down for further understanding of the symptoms, causes, and ways to handle it.
When talking about retinal migraine or ocular migraine, it usually causes visual symptoms in one eye that lead to temporary vision loss or visual disturbance because it affects the retinal cells. Although it is very rare, it is also very real.
It can also be confused with migraine with aura sometimes, just that it affects both eyes instead. The American Migraine Foundation explains how serious this migraine can be and that you need medical attention if it occurs regularly.
Symptoms That Points to Ocular Migraine
Like we have mentioned above, these ocular migraine symptoms usually appear suddenly. They include experiencing flashing lights, visual loss or disturbances, twinkling lights, blind spots (scotoma), nausea, vomiting, or temporary blindness in the affected eye lasting for less than an hour before migraine headaches sweep in.
Some people also experience pale skin color, feeling warm, loss of appetite, and tiredness when they have migraine attacks. The headache can also linger for about three days if not sometimes attended to quickly.
Suspected Causes of this Migraine
While the exact causes of retinal migraines have not been detected, doctors suspect it is linked to the decreased blood flow to the retinal blood vessels. The narrowing and widening of these blood vessels can cause reduced blood flow to the eye in this process.
Another possible cause is the changes in nerve cells and chemicals in the brain, and the International Headache Society categorizes it as a primary headache disorder.
Triggering Factors for Ocular Migraine Attack
There are several factors that can trigger ocular migraine occurrence, and we will be listing them below:
- Lack of sleep
- Stress
- High alcohol intake
- Bright lights
- Contraceptive pills
- High blood pressure
- Hormonal changes
- Skipping meals
- Certain medications
- Stiff neck
With these triggers listed, you can try to avoid migraine triggers. To keep track of your symptoms, keep a headache journal to see what exactly triggers your migraines and the common triggers that are peculiar to you.
Ocular Migraines Popular Risk Factors
Family history, family medical history of other eye diseases, other family information, being a female that experiences several changes in your hormones or takes birth control pills, having high blood pressure or heart problems, and usage of birth control pills can raise your risk factors for the experience.
Points of Concern
Although, most times, ocular migraines usually go away on their own. However, because they can be a sign of serious conditions or medical concern, you should consider seeing a medical doctor if it happens often so you don’t experience permanent vision loss in the long run.
If your vision loss lasts longer than one hour or occurs in the same eye over and over, you have trouble speaking or moving, or you have doubts about the cause of the vision problems, then it is time to see your doctor so they can rule out other problems like stroke.
Diagnosis Process for Ocular Migraine
When you make a complaint, the doctors may ask about your visual symptoms and family medical history. This process is to find out everything that might be tied to migraine or medical concerns linked to the related subject.
There should be eye exams and tests carried out to make sure the vision problems are not caused by underlying issues. A brain scan can also be suggested to check for conditions that affect blood flow to your eye or brain; this will determine if you need immediate medical help or not.
How To Treat Retinal or Ocular Migraine
As you may know, ocular migraine is a rare condition, so there is no cure for it yet, but there are preventive measures and ways to manage the symptoms.
You should be intentional about avoiding common triggers, taking your prescribed medicines, using calcium channel blockers to help the blood vessels relax and improve blood flow in return, managing high blood pressure if you have it, and resting in a dark room, away from light, during an attack episode.
Your doctor can also suggest some migraine medications that will make the attacks less frequent, for example, drugs that stop blood vessels from getting too narrow. Considered medical advice will prevent migraines and headaches and reduce sudden loss of vision by reducing the triggers to the barest minimum.
Connection Between Ocular Migraine and Eye Health
It is generally advisable to take care of your eye health even in the absence of ocular migraine but extra caution is required from you if you have the condition or a family history of migraine. Here are some basic things to put into practice if you have been diagnosed with the condition:
Check in with your eye doctor regularly. If you have any additional problems, let your doctor know and brief them about your migraine symptoms and how you have been managing your blood pressure or overall health itself.
It is quite understandable how changes in vision or lost vision can be scary but do not fret. With the right care, most people with this condition do not have any long-term problems because of the proper medical care and management.
How You Can Prevent Ocular Migraine
You have been educated about the causes of migraines; try your best to stay away from them. Track your symptoms and manage life stress by trying deep breathing, meditation, or yoga. Getting enough sleep by following a regular sleep routine is also a booster.
Don’t skip your meals, constantly drink enough water, avoid drinking alcohol or limit it, adjust your lighting to proper ones, limit screen time to avoid visual disturbances, and take breaks in between screen usage.
Overall Summary
The good news about this scary condition is that it is usually temporary so you don’t have to be afraid. Learning everything about the condition is the first step, which we have done. Now that you understand the triggers and risk factors, you should proceed to getting help from a doctor and build a routine around management of your migraines and eyesight protection.
Don’t hold back from seeking medical attention if things escalate to vision loss in one eye, if you have new symptoms, or if the existing ones keep getting worse. Staying safe by checking the condition with the appropriately licensed physician is something you should not joke with because your vision is extremely precious.
Bibliography
https://www.mayoclinic.org/
https://www.nei.nih.gov/about/goals-and-accomplishments/nei-research-initiatives/data-science-and-health-informatics/nei-fda-onc-joint-workshop-promoting-adoption-ocular-imaging-standards
