Ophthalmic migraine: what is it?

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Ophthalmic migraine what is it

Ophthalmic migraine, also called migraine with aura, is a headache of moderate or severe intensity, occurring in attacks lasting 4 to 72 hours. It is characterized by classic migraine by symptoms transient neurological, most often visual, qualified as auras.

Visual auras can take different forms:

  • scintillating scotoma: appearance of a shiny, even dazzling spot in the visual field;
  • phosphenes: flashes » and irruption of luminous spots or points in the visual field;
  • more rarely, others perception disorders orhallucinations visuals may appear.

These visual symptoms usually occur upstream of the migraine and develop gradually over five minutes or more, with duration on average 20 to 30 minutes.

There are also non-visual auras, although much rarer (1% of cases): sensitive (tingling, tingling in the arms and mouth), aphasic (language disorders type of lack of words), motor (paralysis ) or auditory (hallucinations).

Causes of ophthalmic migraine

There are two theories for explain migraine ophthalmic.

  • Vascular cause : the slowing of the cerebral blood circulation leads to a ischemia transient responsible for the aura.
  • Neuronal cause: transient neuronal depolarization causing cortical excitation (phosphene) following a period ofinhibition (scotoma).

These incidents are followed by a headache which corresponds to an excessive dilation of the arterioles brain aimed at compensating for the previous constriction.

Ophthalmic migraine treatment

The treatment of ophthalmic migraine does not differ from that of classic migraine:

  • during the crisis, quiet rest, sheltered from the light and noise;
  • processing analgesic early (at the beginning of the crisis): paracetamol Where aspirin.

If conventional analgesics are ineffective, triptans (Imigrane, Zomig, Naramig or Relpax) are prescribed, which should be taken after the aura symptoms, when the migraine attack begins.

It is also important to identify the trigger factors seizures, such as:

  • sudden changes of brightness ;
  • glare;
  • lack of sleep ;
  • stress;
  • irregularity in meal times;
  • hormonal variations;
  • smoking.

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