Could I be Experiencing an Optical Migraine?
If you have ever experienced the pain of migraine headaches, you know that it can be downright miserable. For a lot of people, the pain is accompanied by other symptoms, known as migraine auras. These can include symptoms like visual auras (lights or other vision disturbances), nausea, and dizziness. These symptoms usually occur before the pain sets in and can be a warning sign that the headache is coming.
Absence of Pain
What if the pain never comes? Some people may experience all of the symptoms of a migraine - phantom flashing lights and other visual disturbances, dizziness, nausea, and sensitivity to light - but never develop the painful headache.
This condition is called an optical migraine. It is also known as acephalic migraine or ocular migraine. An optical migraine feels just like the first stages of a migraine, and if you have had a migraine before you will probably begin to brace yourself for the pain which you assume will follow. But the headache never arrives, and you are left with a handful of baffling symptoms.
Most sufferers of optical migraine feel very confused and their first instinct is to panic. It makes sense that this would be very worrying; after all, any symptoms involving the head and eyes can bring on a sense of fear.
There is usually no need to worry, since the same conditions that bring on regular migraines can also cause an optical migraine. The exact cause of migraine headaches is not known, but theories about the cause range from a dietary imbalance to allergies to temporary edema of the brain. While migraine can be disruptive and painful, it is usually not a sign of any other issue.
The first time you experience an optical migraine, it is a good idea to inform your doctor. He or she will probably tell you to keep an eye on the condition and inform them if anything changes. It is only classified as a migraine if the incident takes place many times over a period of months or years; otherwise, it will probably be looked at as a one-time occurrence.
If you have only the aura symptoms and no headache pain, treatment is probably not necessary. Just remember to keep track of your optical migraines and inform your physician if anything changes. A sudden and drastic change in the way you experience migraines, with or without pain, may indicate a more serious problem. Some diseases of the eyes and brain begin with visual disturbances and migraine-like auras.
