Ocular Migraine

An ocular migraine is a vascular headache, meaning it is caused by changes to the blood flow to the brain. The designation of migraine is usually understood as a severe headache, but there can be symptoms that are not connected to the headache pain.
Migraine sufferers often have vision related symptoms that accompany the headache. These difficulties with vision are know in medical circles as ophthalmic migraines, but the colloquial term for them is ocular migraines. Patients largely use the colloquialism to describe their headaches.
While these headaches are, medically speaking, harmless, they may cause a great deal of disturbance to the lifestyle of those who suffer from them. They do not cause and sort of brain damage or any other permanent problem for the sufferers. Generally speaking, the symptoms will dispel without any treatment from a physician. However, they may make it impossible for a patient to drive or read or perform their daily duties such as cooking or using a computer.
The signs and symptoms of an ocular migraine include seeing flashes of light or zigzag patterns across the field of vision, known as metamorphopsia. A classic sign is the small blind spot in the center of your vision that enlarges with  bright, shimmering lights.    This blind spot is known as a scotoma and the flickering lights are called scintillations.
Despite the benign nature of the condition, it is important to have any vision problems checked out by your eye care professional, since there are other eye problems that can produce similar symptoms. For example, a detached retina may cause such lights or blind spots.
Like most other headaches, there are no definite triggers to the problem. They may be caused by different factors in different people. For example, ocular migraines may be triggered by certain foods in some people. Common trigger foods include chocolate, nuts, shellfish, or foods sweetened with artificial sweeteners such as aspartame or other chemicals found in modern foods. Hormonal changes, machines or electronic devices with flashing lights may prompt them as well.
Some researchers hypothesize a link between fatigue and tension and the ocular migraine, but subsequent studies have not substantiated the link.
These headaches may occur regularly for a long period of time, then a patient may have a substantial remission period where he or she is free from any symptoms for a long period of time. Then the headaches may recur without warning.
If they are persistent, it is advisable to see your physician to let him or her know about the condition and see if there are treatments that may be effective. However, since the process that triggers migraines is not well understood, there may be little the doctor can recommend.  However, there are some medications that can be taken on an ongoing basis that have been shown to be effective in preventing the recurrence of persistent ocular migraines. These maintenance medications will likely be prescribed only in cases where the ailment is interfering with the patient’s everyday functions.