Visual migraines often cause sufferers to see white or colorful sparkles in the vision, though every person who has visual migraines will experience them slightly different. Many people will not experience any pain with the colorful aura, and the flashes of light will usually ease within 15 to 20 minutes with no residual effects. Visual migraines alone do not require treatment, but a person with frequent ocular migraines should understand some of the causes of the condition to aid in prevention.
Pre-Migraine Headache
Migraine headaches may have early signs of an impending attack. One such sign occurs in the form of vision changes, often called auras. These auras will often cause flashing or shimmering lights in the vision and other vision changes. A person who has migraines with auras will usually have a headache within an hour after the visual signs, says MayoClinic.com. Medications will not improve visual symptoms that accompany a migraine headache. For headache pain, a doctor will often prescribe migraine medications to help relieve symptoms or shorten the duration of the headache.
Vasospasm
Many people experience visual migraines without a headache or any pain whatsoever. In such cases, the cause often results from a vasospasm, a spasm that occurs in the vessels behind the eyes, explains the Eye Care Office of Ofner and Fleming. In many people, the visual migraine occurs and may not appear again. These people do not require medical evaluation or treatment. However, some people may experience repeat attacks that affect vision and daily activities. In such cases, a person with repeat ocular migraines should have an eye examination to ensure an underlying medical condition is not the cause for the visual disturbances.
Triggers
Just as migraine headaches have triggers, vasospasm that cause visual migraines may occur in predictable circumstances. Triggers will vary from person to person, though many people respond to common factors, such as changes in hormones or consuming certain chemicals, such as monosodium glutamate, commonly known as MSG. Other visual migraine triggers may include flashing lights and certain medications, says Marilyn Haddrill and Dr. Charles Slonim. In order to determine if certain environmental or physiological factors trigger recurrent visual migraines, sufferers may need to keep track of body changes and food consumption around the time the visual migraines occur.
