In detail, these manifestations affect vision and most commonly include: increased sensitivity to light (photophobia), visual blurring, phosphenes (perception of flashes and flashes of light) and scotomas (seeing dark or colored spots). Other reversible disorders can be associated with the visual aura, including nausea, dizziness and tingling in the upper limbs, loss of appetite, increased sensitivity to sounds and mood swings.
The headache is generally migraine type and appears within an hour or so of the end of the visual aura, but sometimes it can be contemporary.
Although the causes at the origin of this disorder are not yet completely clear, many factors can trigger or aggravate headache attacks with visual aura, such as, for example: stress, hormonal imbalances, loud odors and noises, climatic changes, physical activities too intense, poor posture and poor sleep quality.
Diagnosis is clinical and is based on a "careful collection of clinical history and" physical examination.
In subjects with infrequent episodes of visual aura, the treatment is exclusively symptomatic and involves the assumption of self-medication analgesics and anti-inflammatories, such as ibuprofen and naproxen. In the case of recurrent or particularly severe attacks, a prophylaxis therapy, similar to that used for headache without aura, is indicated.
. However, similar visual disturbances have also been described in association with other types of primary headache, such as tension headache and cluster headache. The visual aura most frequently affects both eyes.
Migraine with aura
- Migraine with aura is a primary headache (the headache is not, therefore, caused by other pathologies). In this condition, pain attacks can be heralded by prodromal symptoms, that is, by the feeling that the migraine is about to begin . Sometimes, these manifestations can persist even after the onset of the headache.
- Disorders that characterize migraine with aura include feelings of numbness, nausea, loss of appetite, mood changes, increased sensitivity to light or sound, blurred vision, and scotomas. Usually, these manifestations last 5 to 20 minutes. never last for more than one "hour). Migraine usually appears within about one hour from the end of the visual aura and persists for a long time (from 4 hours to borderline cases of 2-3 days).
- The migraine aura usually involves both eyes; visual symptoms are short-lived.
- The average presence of migraine in the adult population is about 12% (18% in women and 6% in men); the visual aura precedes headache attacks in about one third of cases.
