Migraines are headaches that cause pulsing and throbbing head pain that lasts for hours or days. Migraines also come with other symptoms, which can include:
- Sensitivity to light and sound
- Nausea and vomiting
- Worsening pain with physical activity
Some patients get a visual, auditory, sensory or speech warning signs that a migraine is about to happen. This is referred to as aura. Auras can last for several minutes up to an hour. Their symptoms include:
- Visual aura can occur in one of both eyes as an area of brightness or blindness that expands into flashes of light, zigzags, stars of shapes.
- Auditory aura includes hearing sounds that are not there or a buzzing in the ears.
- Sensory aura includes a burning sensation, numbness or a pins-and-needles feeling.
- Speech and language aura happens when a patient cannot recall words, cannot understand language and has problems reading and writing.
Treatments for a migraine include medicines to reduce pain and prevent nausea, medicine to prevent migraines from happening and stress management techniques.