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Have you ever seen a temporary black spot in your vision? How about jagged white lines? Something that looks like heat waves shimmering in your peripheral vision?
If you have, you may have been experiencing what is known as an ocular migraine. Ocular migraines occur when blood vessels spasm in the visual center of the brain (the occipital lobe) or the retina.
These optical migraines can take on several different symptoms, but they typically last only from a few minutes to an hour. They can take on either positive or negative visual symptoms, meaning they can produce what looks like a black blocked-out area in your vision (negative symptom), or they can produce visual symptoms that you see but know aren’t really there, like heat waves or jagged white lines that look almost like lightning streaks (positive symptoms).
Some people do get a headache after the visual symptoms but most do not. They get the visual symptoms, which resolve on their own in under an hour, and then generally just feel slightly out of sorts after the episode but don’t get a significant headache. The majority of episodes last about 20 minutes but can go on for an hour. The hallmark of this problem is that once the visual phenomenon resolves the vision returns completely back to normal with no residual change or defect.
If you have this happen for the first time it can be scary and it is a good idea to have a thorough eye exam by your eye doctor soon after the episode to be sure there is nothing else causing the problem.
Many people who get ocular migraines tend to have them occur in clusters. They can have three or four episodes within a week and then may not have another one for several months or even years.
There are some characteristics that raise your risk for ocular migraines. The biggest one is a personal history of having migraine headaches. Having a family history of migraines also raises your risk, as does a history of motion sickness.
Although the symptoms can cause a great deal of anxiety, especially on the first occurrence, ocular migraines rarely cause any long-term problems and almost never require treatment as long as they are not accompanied by significant headaches.
So if symptoms like this suddenly occur in your vision, try to remain calm, pull over if you are driving, and wait for them to go away. If they persist for longer than an hour, you should seek immediate medical attention.
Article contributed by Dr. Brian Wnorowski, M.D.
This blog provides general information and discussion about eye health and related subjects. The words and other content provided in this blog, and in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice. If the reader or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately licensed physician. The content of this blog cannot be reproduced or duplicated without the express written consent of Eye IQ.
Eye doctors typically pride themselves on being able to improve someone’s vision through glasses or contact lens prescriptions. Whether it’s a first-time glasses wearer, or someone having either a small or large change in their prescription, we like to aim for that goal of 20/20 vision.
Despite our best efforts, however, correcting vision to 20/20 is not always a positive outcome for the patient. Whether someone will be able to tolerate their new prescription is based on something called neuroplasticity, which is what allows our brains to adapt to changes in our vision.
You or someone you know may have had this happen: Your vision was blurry, so you went to the eye doctor. The doctor gave you a new prescription, but after you received your new glasses, things seem “off.”
Common complaints are that the prescription feels too strong (or even too clear!) or that the wearer feels dizzy or faint. This is especially true with older patients who have had large changes in their prescriptions, since neuroplasticity decreases with age. It is also more likely to happen when the new prescription has a change in the strength or the angle of astigmatism correction. Conversely, this happens less often in children, since their brains have a high amount of plasticity.
Quite often, giving the brain enough time to adapt to the new vision will decrease these symptoms.
Whenever a patient has a large change in prescription, I tell them that they should wear the glasses full time for at least one week. This is true for both large changes in prescription strength, as well as changing lens modality, e.g., single vision to progressives.
Despite the patient’s best efforts, though, sometimes allowing time to adapt to the new vision isn’t enough, and the prescription needs to be adjusted. Even when someone sees 20/20 on the eye chart with their new glasses, if they are uncomfortable in them even after trying to adjust for a week then we sometimes have to make a compromise and move the script back closer to their previous script so that there is less change and they can more easily adapt.
In conclusion, adapting to a new prescription can sometimes be frustrating. It does not mean there is anything wrong with you if you have difficulty adjusting to large changes in a prescription. With a little patience and understanding about how your brain adapts to these kinds of changes, your likelihood of success will be that much higher.
Article contributed by Dr. Jonathan Gerard
This blog provides general information and discussion about eye health and related subjects. The words and other content provided in this blog, and in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice. If the reader or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately licensed physician. The content of this blog cannot be reproduced or duplicated without the express written consent of Eye IQ.
