IS THERE A CONNECTION ?
VISUAL FIELD LOSS AND HEADACHE
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IS THERE A CONNECTION ?
I have been getting daily headaches for almost a year now . When a really bad one hits , it lasts for more than 4 days and gets more intense right after eating . I feel like it makes my neck so tender that it hurts and feels like I am suffocating when I have my neck against anything ( lying on a pillow , wearing a scarf , etc ). I have no idea what is the trigger for the headaches , but my brain is buzzing all the time ! My joints feel tender in my neck after the headache starts . I did get in a car accident almost 2 years ago and had a stiff neck , but didn ’ t have headaches until about 8 months after the wreck , so I don ’ t see the correlation . – Aimee W .
I agree . Your neck is probably not the cause for your headaches . It is very common for migraine attacks to refer pain to the neck muscles . The back of the head and upper neck are innervated by the first and second cervical nerves which end up in the part of the brainstem known as the trigeminal nucleus caudalis , mixing with nerve inputs from the trigeminal system . The trigeminal system accounts for the pain we experience with migraines . It is believed that much of migraine pain arises from this region of the brainstem , which probably explains why migraine pain is commonly referred to the neck . Certainly , with a daily headache for almost a year and frequent worsening , you would best served by seeing a headache specialist .
– Edmund Messina , MD , FAHS Medical Director , Michigan Headache Clinic East Lansing , MI
VISUAL FIELD LOSS AND HEADACHE
Is there any correlation between migraine and visual field loss and open angle glaucoma ? I ’ ve found a few comments in an online search , but nothing definite . – Marie C .
I am not aware of any correlation between migraine and visual field loss from open angle glaucoma . However , you must first ask yourself a very simple question : is the field loss in one eye or both eyes ? Typical visual field losses from a migraine aura usually occur on the right or left side of space or in your central vision . Migraine symptoms seem to occur in both eyes in a similar location . Visual field loss in migraine is temporary and usually lasts less than one hour . Visual field losses from glaucoma are usually due to irreversible nerve cell damage , so they don ’ t just come and go like a migraine aura does .
A simple test , next time you experience an aura , is to cover one eye and then the other . If the visual problem occurs in both eyes , in about the same location in space , it is probably not due to an eye problem . Visual signals coming from the retina split at the optic chiasm , around the brain , so each eye is contributing information to both sides of the brain . Migraine aura arises in an area in the back part of the brain , known as the occipital cortex . A migraine aura which arises from the occipital cortex will be present no matter which eye you cover .
Certainly , if you have a diagnosis of glaucoma , whether or not you have migraine , you need to make your ophthalmologist aware of any changes in your vision . HW
– Edmund Messina MD , FAHS Medical Director , Michigan Headache Clinic East Lansing , MI
8 HEAD WISE | Volume 3 , Issue 1 • 2013