An aura caused by migraine, silent or an ocular migraine usually involves some kind of troubles with vision. This blurry vision or flashes of light usually affect both eyes at the same time. The difference between this type of aura and the classical one is that most of the time it is not accompanied by the throbbing pain in the temples.
However, patients usually suffer from a lot of other irritating symptoms that usually last for an hour or so. These symptoms are not serious; however they can affect the quality of the patient’s life. Read on to learn more about migraine aura causes.
An ocular migraine with blurred vision affects both eyes and can cause troubles with reading, writing, driving and working on a computer. A retinal migraine is another type that usually affects only one eye and is a much more serious condition.
Migraine Aura Causes
Unfortunately, even despite much research, the exact nature of migraine aura causes are not known.
However, some doctors believe that the same triggers that cause a classic migraine can also cause these kinds of ocular types. A patient is usually at greater risk if they have already experienced any other types of migraines too.
As with many chronic health conditions, there is also a genetic link to different types, including an ocular migraine. Therefore, if a family member has a history of these, then you are probably at risk.
Hormones
Different types of migraines, including an ocular migraine, are linked to hormonal imbalance. In particular, an estrogen imbalance is one of the main migraine aura causes. This is related to the unnatural fluctuation of estrogen that comes with natural changes like pregnancy, breastfeeding and menstruation.
However, some contraceptives can affect hormone balances unnaturally, and so perhaps a diagnosis of symptoms when using these kinds of pharamaceuticals can be more tricky.
Stress
Stress and anxiety are related to many different kinds of headaches, and can trigger an ocular migraine since they also affect the hormonal imbalance in your body.
In a nutshell, stress messes with the hormones in your brain, which can directly cause troubles in your vision, which is one of the main symptoms of this condition.
Environment
Some environmental factors can also be migraine aura causes.
This includes everything from exposure to very bright light or extremely loud noises. Powerful odors can also cause these kinds of symptoms.
When it comes to external factors that can affect the functioning of your body, changes in the weather can usually affect the blood circulation too, which is directly linked to an ocular migraine.
Food
There are some types of food or drinks that can trigger these symptoms too. Some reasons include excessive amounts of caffeine or withdrawal from caffeine, which has been shown to trigger one of these episodes.
Some types of food that contain nitrates like hot dogs and luncheon meat can also be a trigger, as well as food that contains tyramine as you find in aged cheese and fava beans. All these kinds of food might also cause the classic vision problems linked to ocular migraines.
Some patients also experience these symptoms because of alcoholic beverages like red wine.
Therefore, a patient is usually advised to stay away from these triggers in order to avoid the discomfort and problems that usually accompany one of these episodes.
How Can You Identify the Triggers?
Keeping a diary is one of the best ways to help you identify the triggers and eventually avoid them, and get a handle on what your migraine aura causes are.
For example, you can take notes about the food you eat, your daily routine and the environment factors that you experience. What’s also important to note is your symptoms and any pain. Once you do this for a while, and start to notice strong correlations between these external factors and your symptoms, which will help you identify the patterns of your triggers.
This, in turn can help you avoid them in order to ensure that you don’t experience these unsettling kinds of symptoms in the future.
Conclusion
Migraine aura causes are not conclusive. While there is a lot of research that goes into these kinds of symptoms and what causes them, the reality is that the reasons why they happen are different for everyone.
However, in consultation with a doctor, you will be able to discuss and figure out exactly what your unique triggers are, so that you can manage your own symptoms, and hopefully avoid them all together.
As discussed, keeping a headache diary is one of the most successful ways to identify triggers. With this kind of information, you will also be able to get a diagnosis from a medical professional more quickly. Along with this information, your doctor will also be able to put together an effective treatment plan.
