Ocular migraine symptoms and causes

Thank you for visiting our page on ocular migraine symptoms and causes where we will give you free information on this painful condition that affects thousands of people each and every day. We are going to explain how you can determine ocular migraines from the various other types of migraines that there are so that you can go about taking the necessary course of action to relieve it. There is also a section on ocular migraine treatment although this is something that should be obtained following a consultation with a medical professional.

What is an ocular migraine?

First things first, many people will want to know the answer to the question 'what is an ocular migraine?' so we will provide a brief explanation. There are many different types of migraines and the way that ocular migraines are determined as different from the other types is that they are to do with the eyes and loss of vision. The word 'ocular' refers to something that is related to the eyes. An ocular migraine will generally be short lasting, most commonly it will only be present for up to an hour. The headache that accompanies the ocular migraine can come on before, during or even after the loss of vision. We have mentioned that the main characteristic of an ocular migraine is loss of vision, this can be a total loss, the loss in one eye or just a period of distorted vision. The exact ocular migraine symptoms are explained in the following section.

Ocular migraine symptoms

We have talked about what an ocular migraine is and we will now explain to you what ocular migraine symptoms are. If you are suffering from a migraine and the exact symptoms match some or all of the below list of symptoms of ocular migraine then there is a high chance that this is the condition that you are suffering from.

The main symptoms of ocular migraines are:

• Blurred / distorted vision
• Flashes of light in your vision
• Loss of sight in either eye temporarily
• Dark patches in your vision
• A noticeable loss of light in your vision, as though someone has turned down the lights
• They don't last very long, often less than one hour

When there is no headache with the ocular migraine it can be easy to mistake the condition for many other medical conditions that are to do with the eyes, it is vital to seek medical advice from a doctor who will be able to determine the exact nature of your symptoms. We hope that this section on ocular migraine symptoms can help you in recognising whether or not ocular migraines are something that may or may nor be something affecting you or somebody that you know.

Ocular migraine causes

Now that we have covered ocular migraine symptoms and explained what an ocular migraine is we are going to provide some information on the causes of ocular migraines. The main ocular migraine cause is an insufficient amount of blood to the eyes, or eye as it is usually one eye that is effect as opposed to both. However, like with the other types of migraines and headaches that you can get it is possible that certain triggers can be responsible for bringing an ocular migraine on. For further information on migraine triggers please check out our dedicated page.

Working out what causes ocular migraines for you may not always be an easy task, only four out of five people are able to determine the triggers of their migraines, with the remainder of people left feeling very puzzled and frustrated, which does not help a migraine in the slightest! Here are a few useful tips to help you try and figure out ocular migraine causes for you:

• Make a diary or note of what you were doing before and while the ocular migraine came on, there may be activities that you take part in that are responsible. Do they come around when you are in a certain place or doing a certain thing? You don't have to literally carry around a book with you, keep a note on your mobile phone as that is something that is always going to be with you.
• What have you eaten the day an ocular migraine came on? Again make a note or diary of the foods and liquids that you have consumed before an ocular migraine pops up.
• Have you been experiencing problems with your vision for a while such as you feel as though you need your eyes tested as your quality of vision has changed? Maybe it is time to visit the optician or your doctor.

One common factor for people that experience ocular migraines is that they are sensitive to bright light, whether that is exposure to sunlight or bright lights in a pub or club. This means that the triggers or causes of ocular migraine can be a variety of different things such as:

• Bright sunlight
• Flashing lights in a bar or club
• Traffic lights
• Light reflected through a car windscreen
• Flashing images from a television, computer or games console
• Light reflected off of water

If you have recognised that a certain environment makes you exposed to any sort of light that will cause an ocular migraine for you then it is very important that you minimise your exposure as much as possible, this can be from wearing sunglasses to just avoiding the environment altogether.

Ocular migraine treatment

Having matched your ocular migraine symptoms up and potentially discovering what causes ocular migraines for you it is only natural for you to want to know what is best to do in way of ocular migraine treatment. The best way to treat an ocular migraine is prevention, avoid the factors or environments that responsible for bringing on an ocular migraine for you. It is important to consult your doctor who can help go through the best ways to do this, or if you are not able to determine exactly what the figures are they can help you find that out. As the main cause of ocular migraines are an insufficient amount of blood reaching the eyes there is no pill that you can take to eradicate symptoms like there is with a headache, a cold or a virus, although calcium channel blockers are sometimes used because of the effect that they have on relaxing blood vessels.

We hope that our page on ocular migraine symptoms and causes has been useful to you, for more information on types of migraines, migraine triggers and migraine relief please see our dedicated pages.