Ocular Migraine
In this article
Ocular migraines cause vision loss or blindness in one eye that lasts less than an hour. You can have them along with or after a migraine headache. Experts sometimes call them visual, retinal, ophthalmic, or monocular (meaning one eye) migraines.
This problem is rare. It affects about 1 out of every 200 people who have migraines. Some research suggests that in many cases, the symptoms are due to other problems.
Migraine Prevention: What You Can Do
When you’ve had the throbbing pain of a migraine, you want to do what you can to avoid another one. If you get these headaches often or have severe ones, avoid the things that you know set them off, called triggers, like specific foods, smells, and alcohol, for example. You might be able to keep migraines away with a couple other tactics, too: Use preventive medications or devices. Make lifestyle changes.
Read the Migraine Prevention: What You Can Do article > >
Regular migraines can also cause vision problems, called an aura, which can involve flashing lights and blind spots in your vision. But these symptoms usually appear in both eyes.
See your doctor to find out if you have ocular migraines. He can rule out other conditions that can cause similar symptoms. Be ready to describe your symptoms as completely as you can -- that will help your doctor know what’s really going on.
Symptoms
Warning signs of an ocular migraine include:
Vision problems that affect one eye, such as flashing lights, blind spots in your field of vision, or blindness. You might have them for only a few minutes or up to 30 minutes. These problems affect just one eye, which makes ocular migraines different from other types.
It can be hard to tell the difference between flashing lights or blindness in one side of your vision -- but involving both eyes -- and having these symptoms in only one eye. If you can’t tell, cover one eye and then the other.
Headache that lasts from 4 to 72 hours. It tends to:
- Affect one side of your head
- Feel moderately or very painful
- Throb or pulsate
- Feel worse when you move around
Other symptoms include:
Causes
Experts aren't sure what causes ocular migraines. Some feel that the problem is related to:
- Spasms in blood vessels in the retina, the lining in the back of the eye
- Changes that spread across the nerve cells in the retina
It’s rare, but people who have these migraines may have a higher risk of permanent vision loss in one eye. Experts don't know if medications that prevent migraines -- such as tricyclic antidepressants or anti-seizuremedications -- can help prevent that vision loss. But if you have ocular migraines, even if they go away on their own, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor about your symptoms.

