What Is a Migraine Aura?

Overview

Migraines are painful and can interrupt your life. There are different classifications of migraines that vary in symptoms and severity. Migraines can cause pain, sensitivity to light, smell, noise, visual disturbances, nausea, vomiting and auras. Understanding auras is important as they are often a warning sign before a headache or migraine is about to occur.

Identification

A migraine aura can occur during a headache, up to one hour before a headache and in rare cases with no headache. They tend to last about 10 to 30 seconds. While the exact cause is still not known it appears that an aura is related to abnormal electrical waves within the brain. These electrical disturbances travel across the part of the brain that processes visual information, which leads to visual disturbances and hallucinations.

Symptoms

If you experience an aura with your migraine you will experience visual disturbances. This includes flashes of light, patterns or colored lines that zigzag, a temporary complete or partial loss of vision, seeing stars or shimmering lights and seeing lines or objects that move through your field of vision. You may also notice difficulty speaking, feeling confused and numbness or weakness in areas of the body.

Triggers

Migraines and their associated auras can be triggered by many things. This includes stress, anxiety, certain foods, excitement, depression, sleep disturbances, muscular tension in the neck and/or jaw, suddenly changing positions or other medical conditions. Each patient must work with her physician to determine her individual triggers. Your migraine aura can be triggered by just one of these factors or a combination of them.

Prevention/Solution

Your treatment plan will be determined by your individual situation. There is no one plan that works for everyone. Avoiding known triggers, medication and healthy lifestyle changes will all play an important role. The Migraine Action Association states that some patients find relief through acupuncture, acupressure, manipulative therapies, cooling gels and packs, and herbal remedies.

Considerations

According to the Migraine Aura Foundation, individuals who experience migraine auras may be at a higher risk of stroke. While this correlation is still being investigated it may be due to changes within the blood vessels in your brain that disturb normal blood flow. If the brain does not get enough blood and oxygen you can suffer a stroke.