self help
Be Your Own Advocate
Blinded by the Light
Strategies for avoiding the brightest migraine triggers
By Arianna Hermosillo
IT ’ S THAT MOMENT when you ’ re driving and the oncoming driver hits the brights . Or when you ’ re in the grocery store and the beaming fluorescent lights force you to wince in the cereal aisle . Many migraineurs know all too well how lighting can trigger an attack .
In fact , light sensitivity ( also known as “ photophobia ”) is probably the most common sensitivity that migraineurs face , affecting anywhere from 66 to 88 percent of migraineurs . “ It ’ s even more common than nausea and sensitivity to sound ,” says Vincent Martin , MD , vice president of the National Headache Foundation and professor of medicine at the University of Cincinnati .
Though it may not be possible to control all lighting in your environment , you can make your surroundings more bearable by better understanding how light can impact migraine .
THE MIGRAINEUR ’ S REACTION
Migraineurs are generally more sensitive to triggers ( such as light ) than the average person , says Robert Kaniecki , MD , director of The Headache Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center .
“ The migraine brain is fundamentally sensitive to multiple different sensory stimuli ,” Dr . Kaniecki says . Although light may top the list , you might also struggle with sensitivity to certain smells or sounds , and these can trigger a migraine .
Although researchers have not yet concluded exactly how light triggers migraine , Dr . Kaniecki attributes some of the connection to pain and light signals that converge upon the brain , which then processes the signals together .
For many migraineurs , light doesn ’ t just trigger migraine pain — it may also make an existing migraine worse . “ Your hypersensitive brain becomes even more sensitive during a headache or migraine ,” Dr .
14 HEAD WISE | Volume 2 , Issue 2 • 2012