EYE MIGRAINE
Although the eye migraine is commonly called exactly that, an eye migraine is actually one of a group of different kinds of migraines. These migraines can be classified as ocular, ophthalmic, or ophthalmoplegic. Symptoms of these migraines can include pain, congestion, nausea, and related visual symptoms. Sometimes these can be experienced without the pain of the headache; these are commonly called silent migraines or acephalgic migraines. The silent migraine causes the individual to visualize strange disturbances. Those types of migraines usually last between 30 – 45 minutes and are treated in the same fashion as any other migraine.
Even though retinal and ocular migraines are relatively uncommon, they do occur. The individual can experience temporary blindness that can be either partial or complete and the blindness can be experienced in either one or both eyes. A dull pain can often be felt during or after the occurrence but sometimes there will be no pain associated with this type of migraine at all. These types of migraines also often recur but the timeline may vary between days and sometimes even years.
Those who experience an ophthalmic migraine often deal with the same symptoms as the ocular migraine, however, these symptoms often occur more towards the peak of the migraine and are more frequent in younger men than any other individual.
The Ophthalmoplegic migraine is a much rarer occurrence and many involved in the study of this migraine no longer feel that this type can even be considered a migraine. This type of migraine is more often seen in children and can cause a short period of doubled vision, droopy eyelid, and pupil dilation. The pain experienced is severe during the headache and it is always joined with a weakness of at least one of the muscles of the eye. An individual should always bring this occurrence to a physician’s attention because there are other serious causes that should be ruled out before diagnosis of this migraine.
A basilar migraine is another form of migraine that is associated with the eye, although it is very rare. This type of migraine often causes the painful headache but is also accompanied by twitching of the eyes, dizziness, short instances of partial blindness, vertigo, and graying out of vision.
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