Ocular migraine is described as very severe and unilateral pain in the eye which feels like it is being carved out and going to pop out of its socket. In fact, there is no form of migraine such as ocular migraine but patients describe this symptom. Migraine which affects the eye is a common condition. Migraine attacks which are usually unilateral, affect both temples and eyes. Due to the expansion of the eye and the surrounding veins, edema occurs. Enlarged veins cause throbbing. Because of a severe interruption in the working of the nervous system in the painful area, oxygenation of the tissue also deteriorates. As a result of all these negative developments, throbbing pain occurs.
Redness, swelling and watering of the eye are accompanied by light sensitivity in the majority of attacks considered as ocular migraine. Patient is unable to open his eye. Changes in the painful side are observable for the people around the patient.
What are the Types of Headache Causing Ocular Migraines?
Migraine: Migraine is the most common cause of ocular migraine. Attacks which are mostly unilateral can shift from left to right and vice versa. Vein in the vessel can become swollen and apparent and light sensitivity occurs.
In the type seen in young females, nausea is generally not experienced. Painful periods and irregular bleeding are commonly mentioned. The cause is the upper wisdom teeth. This type of migraine attacks can start in young girls at the end of secondary school or at the beginning of high school. Wisdom teeth appear and try to come out earlier in young females than males. If similar pain occurs in males at the end of high school or college years, wisdom teeth should come to mind.
Cluster Headache: Cluster headache is severe, one sided eye and temple pain repeated at certain times of the year and day. One eye may become swollen, red and eye lid may droop. Nostril in the same side may get blocked and/or get runny. This condition is generally seen in men.
Similar rhythmic pain may spread to all year. In this case, it is either chronic cluster headache or migraine similar to cluster headache. The treatment is the same for both of them.
Migraine with Aura: Lightning or dots in the vision or loss of vision can be experienced This condition can continue for 15-30 minutes and can be followed by headache. In some patients, symptoms like seeing zigzag lines, flashing lights and dots can be occasionally experienced. Visual snow is the condition of persisting mentioned visual symptoms. While some patients suffer from migraine along with it, some patients complain of visual symptoms without headache.
What Are the Dangerous Conditions Similar to Ocular Migraine?
Optic Nerve and Glaucoma: In some unilateral migraine cases, edema can occur in the eye ground. This condition is so rarely associated with migraine. Similarly, eye pressure can sometimes be associated with migraine. These patients may have problems especially in their molar teeth.
In the case of glaucoma crisis (especially if you have increased eye tension) and in temporal arteritis which is especially seen in the advanced age group (a kind of inflammatory condition of temporal vein) special treatment for the examination and the disease is absolutely required.
How Should Ocular Migraine be Solved?
If you have unilateral pain in your eye, you should first be examined. If you think you have migraine and the result of your examination is normal, your pain often does not respond to medication. In this case, based on the results of countless patients, Gokmen Approach indicates that the cause is the teeth in the same side.
Both clinical findings and panoramic film results are used for the detection of the tooth causing migraine. The doctor administering the treatment should have enough knowledge about teeth and be specialized in the speciality area of doctors to whom he referred his patients. Patients with ocular migraine who do not respond to medication can successfully recover with a professional treatment as mentioned.