Migraine with aura

Migraine with aura, once called classic migraine, is a recurring headache that strikes after or at the same time as nervous system symptoms called aura. Aura symptoms usually last less than an hour. They can include flashes of light, blind spots and other vision changes that affect both eyes. Aura also can cause tingling in your hand or face. Sometimes people who have migraine with aura also experience muscle weakness or issues with speech and language. Visual aura symptoms are most common.

Treatments for migraine with aura and migraine without aura, once called common migraine, usually are the same. Treatments include medicines to prevent migraine with aura and those to stop the headache once it has started. Other treatments include relaxation techniques such as massage. You can try to prevent migraine with aura using self-care steps such as following a regular sleep and meal schedule and avoiding things that may trigger migraine.

Migraine aura symptoms include temporary visual or other disturbances. Aura symptoms usually strike before other migraine symptoms such as intense head pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound.

Migraine aura usually occurs within an hour of when headache pain begins. It generally lasts less than 60 minutes. But aura can happen at the same time as the headache. Rarely, aura can happen without a headache following it. When this happens, it's usually in people over age 50.

Visual symptoms

Most people who have migraine with aura develop temporary visual symptoms, which tend to start in the center of the field of vision and spread outward. These might include:

• Blind spots, also called scotomas, which sometimes are outlined by simple shapes such as a circle.
• Zigzag lines that gradually float across your field of vision.
• Shimmering spots or stars.
• Changes in vision or vision loss.
• Flashes of light.

Other disturbances

Other temporary disturbances sometimes associated with migraine aura include:

• A tingling feeling in one hand or on one side of the face that may spread slowly along an arm or leg and may turn into numbness.
• Numbness or tingling of the tongue or mouth.
• Speech or language difficulty.
• Hearing ringing in the ears or other noises.
• Hearing loss.
• Inability to move part of the body.
• Muscle weakness.

If you regularly experience signs and symptoms of migraine with aura, keep a record of your migraine attacks and what you did to treat them. Make an appointment with your healthcare professional to discuss your headaches.

Even if you have a history of headaches, see your healthcare professional if the pattern changes or your headaches suddenly feel different.

See your healthcare professional immediately if you have new signs and symptoms of migraine with aura, such as temporary vision loss, speech or language difficulty, and muscle weakness on one side of your body. Your healthcare professional will need to rule out more serious conditions, such as a stroke.

Migraine with aura sometimes can be confused with a rare type of migraine called retinal migraine. Retinal migraines can cause similar symptoms such as vision changes, but these symptoms occur in one eye only. Vision changes and vision loss are temporary with retinal migraine, and many people don't have a headache.

There are other potential causes of vision loss in one eye that should be examined by a healthcare professional, so it's important not to assume this symptom means you have a retinal migraine.

There is evidence that migraine auras are due to electrical or chemical waves that move across the brain. This is called cortical spreading depression. The part of the brain where an electrical or chemical wave spreads determines the symptoms you might experience.

Electrical or chemical waves can occur in areas that process sensory signals, in speech centers or in centers that control movement. The most common type of aura is visual aura, which occurs when a wave of electrical activity spreads through the visual cortex and causes visual symptoms. This wave also is thought to cause headache pain that typically follows aura.

Electrical and chemical waves can occur with typical functioning of the nerves and do not cause harm to the brain.

Migraine and migraine with aura share many of the same triggers. These include:

• Stress.
• Bright lights and loud sounds.
• Being around smoke or strong odors.
• Drinking too much alcohol, especially wine.
• Consuming too much caffeine.
• Some foods, including processed foods or those that have additives such as MSG.
• Too much or too little sleep.
• Menstruation and other hormonal changes.

Although no specific factors appear to increase the risk of migraine with aura, migraines in general seem to be more common in people with a family history of migraine.

Migraines also are more common in people assigned female at birth. This may be related to hormonal changes in people assigned female at birth.

People who have migraine with aura are at a mildly increased risk of stroke. Depression, anxiety and sleep issues also are more common in people with migraine, including migraine with aura.

Taking too many medicines to treat migraines can lead to another type of headache called medication overuse headache (MOH).