Flashing Lights in Eyes - Migraine Type Headaches

Question:

I regularly experience flashing lights in both eyes. These lights can appear at any time but particularly if I get up quickly or Sneeze- I even get them when I'm making love. The symptoms can last up to ten minutes at a time. I'm a 33-year.old man. I have had extensive eye tests but nothing has shown up. It seems to be happening more often, and it is getting more severe. Can you offer any advice?

Migraines Aura

Answer:

I have had a number of questions about this subject. What you and my other correspondents are experiencing is really a headache without the pain. People who suffer from migraine type headaches see flashing lights and/or feel dizzy just before the severe pain in the head. The lights are called the 'aura' and are a warning sign.

Your flashing lights may, at some point, develop into a headache, which is categorized medically as an 'exertional headache', because it starts soon after a sudden exertion. It could be any quick action, such as you describe, or, for instance, moving the head suddenly to the side; or bending down to tie your shoelaces. Dehydration can produce the same effect, so you may experience the lights after along fight. Other triggers are drinking alcohol and eating a heavy, meal. A Chinese meal that contains the additive
monosodium glutamate may also start the reaction since, as with migraine, the lights may be an allergic reaction to something the body sees as an enemy. The classic migraine triggers are alcohol, cheese, chocolate and citrus fruits.

To summarize, I would say that any event or substance that raises the heart rate or blood pressure suddenly can cause flashing lights, just as they can induce a migraine-type headache. But in your case, fortunately, the symptoms go as soon as the pulse rate and blood pressure return to normal.

In my experience, most people who suffer from flashing lights (also migraine and exertional headaches) have had a difficult birth that involved a neck injury (including a forceps delivery, or a whiplash injury, fall, head injury or some similar trauma. This event puts one of the vertebrae in the neck (usually the third cervical vertebra) out of alignment. As a result, the pathway of the vertebral arteries is not perfectly straight. If the cervical vertebrae are properly aligned, they keep the vertebral canal, which houses the arteries and veins carrying blood from the heart to the brain, quite straight. But if there is a kink or curve in the canal and the heart rate suddenly goes up there may be turbulence and restricted blood flow to the brain. It is this reduced blood flow that triggers the flashing lights, dizziness and eventually, for many people, headaches. Some doctors and scientists reading this column may disagree, but I have proven the link to my own (and my patients') satisfaction by showing that treatment to the neck - plus some other simple remedies - solves the problem.

Here is what I suggest:

* For three to four months (until things, settle down), avoid foods that cause tension in the body - mainly coffee, alcohol, excess salt, monosodium glutamate and any foods that you know you are sensitive to.

* Drink two liters of still, pure water daily between meals.

* Drink two cups of Relaxation Tea or camomile tea, daily, without honey or sugar (or artificial sweetener).

* Ask a partner or friend to massage your neck and shoulders twice a week for six to eight weeks. If you can go to a professional therapist sometimes, this is beneficial. When the sides of the neck are massaged, you will find there is an area (one third of the distance down from the skull towards the shoulders) that will be quite tender. Massage this gently in a rotating movement until the pain eases.

* Do yoga: the cobra swing, boat, semi bridge and turtle postures are particularly helpful.

* Consult an osteopath or chiropractor for two or three sessions, if possible. A practitioner should massage the affected part soften the muscles and then manipulate. One manipulation can fix the problem temporarily but if your spine has been misaligned for a considerable period, you may need more long-term treatment to deal with the problem muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Flashing Lights in Eyes - Migraine Type Headaches

Migraines Aura

What Does A Migraine Aura Look Like?

Most people think of a migraine as excruciating pain, but pain is actually the third step of a migraine episode. Before the pain, a majority of migraine sufferers experience the pre-headache phase and the aura phase.

If you have ever heard of the aura phase, you've probably wondered, "What does a migraine aura look like?"

Migraines Aura

Although many people speak only of the aura's affect on the eyes, the aura is much more than that. Migraineurs (those who have migraines) and their physicians know that some or all of the following may be part of an aura.

* auditory hallucinations - you hear sounds that aren't there

* confusion in thinking - things aren't making sense

* decrease in your hearing ability

* difficult finding the words you want

* dizziness

* increased feel and touch - or reduced feel and touch

* olfactory hallucinations - you smell odors that aren't there

* partial paralysis

* sight loss - partial or blurry vision

* tingling or numbness of your face

* visual hallucinations - you see sights that aren't there: flashing bright lights, wavy lines, spots, or zigzag lines

For now, however, we will look only at the last symptom in the list: visual hallucinations. What does a migraine aura look like in terms of its visual hallucinations?

Migraine Aura - Visual Hallucinations

The visual effects vary from person to person, although there are similarities. The changing activity of the nerves that coil around the blood vessels can produce partial loss of vision or intense colors and patterns.

1. For some people, the effects begin as a small dot in front of one or both eyes. The dot is a blind spot - a spot resembling the effect of accidentally looking toward a bare light bulb. Over a period of 30 to 60 minutes, the dot begins to grow. It flashes. Gradually, it changes shape, becoming an oval, a broken circle, or the shape of a V on its side. Off-center, the changing dot grows further and slowly moves to the peripheral vision. It creates repetitions of itself, chaining them together like linked circles, triangles, or other geometric patterns.

2. Other people describe a migraine aura as zigzag patterns in complimentary colors, such as red and green, yellow and blue. The colors look good together, and are pleasing to watch as long as the migraine pain has not begun. These people may also feel that they are look through smoke or smog. At times, it seems their eyes are shaded by a mini-blind with a crescent shape.

3. Artistically minded migraineurs are likely to say that migraine aura look like op-art paintings. They describe psychedelic, neon borders around a primary zigzag design in black and white. In fact, more than one sufferer has observed that, were it not for the onset of excruciating pain, the visual phenomenon would be very entertaining - something you might pay to witness!

4. One German artist, Delia Malchert, undertook to represent her aura's visual hallucinations in paintings. Her migraine aura look like scotoma: points in her visual field where vision is absent or reduced. They usually begin with a small spot near or at the centre of her vision. The spot grows gradually, darkening her vision and developing a jagged, zigzag rim of black and white. The rim emits quick flashes as it rotates rapidly around the darkening center. Before long, the scintillating and darkening increase to become a temporary visual disorder that is almost like legal blindness. At that point in the aura, the center part of what she sees is very blurry. To her, the hallucinations of a migraine aura are irritating and annoying rather than entertaining, even though they are not always followed by migraine pain. She does admit, though, that they can be aesthetically pleasing.

What does a migraine aura look like?

These phrases sum up some of the many visual perceptions migraine sufferers may experience.

* lightning bolts like jagged "Z" patterns - most common

* psychedelic patterns of bright colors

* sparkling zigzag lines that rotate

* random patterns of curved and straight lines

* spider webs in front of the eyes

* lattice work, grids, or mini-blinds in front of the eyes

* a spiraling tunnel

* kaleidoscopes of changing colors and patterns

* objects seeming to be larger, smaller, nearer, or farther away

* objects seeming to be tilted

* double vision - seeing two of everything

* stationary objects appearing to move

Migraine aura sufferers agree that whatever the visual effects, they cannot be escaped. Closing the eyes or trying to look around the effects does not help.

You can get more information about migraine auras at http://www.migrainereliefblog.com. Dedicated to helping both those who suffer migraines as well as those who support them, Migraine Relief Blog offers information and practical help on migraines and their treatment. Visit now to continue your study of the migraine aura.

What Does A Migraine Aura Look Like?

Migraines Aura