Some migraine sufferers experience a migraine aura at the on-set of an attack, although some also experience an aura once the attack has started. Generally they will last five to twenty minutes, and may be accompanied by vertigo, confusion, and imbalance. They accompany about 10% of migraine headaches.
The most common auras are those which affect the person's vision, these can be zigzag lines that are brightly colored or flashing lines which appear in the center of the field of vision, while other experience what is described as a hole in their vision or distortion in both the shape and size of things in their peripheral vision. Pulsating patches of vision are also common, as are slowly spreading spots. These experiences can be accompanied either with or without a headache.
Often people who experience auras will experience strange smells and tastes and may also experience a sensation of pins and needles around their nose and mouth or down one side of their face, although this is less common than visual disturbances.
Auditory "auras" are not uncommon and some people hear things that are not real, for example hearing a voice when no one is there or buzzing or muffling of sounds in either or both ears. This can sometimes also be expressed as a high-pitched whine that carries the same continuous sound.
Auras which affect speech can be very distressing as it is sometimes difficult not only for the person to articulate their own words but also difficult or impossible to comprehend what others are saying either during or after their aura - if auditory auras occur at the same time. This can be a scary feeling, especially if it is the first occurrence; however the best course of action is to stay calm, as stress will only make the aura worse.
A migraine aura is similar to an hallucination, in that a person is not sensing his or her surroundings in a way that accurately reflects objective reality. The aura is a series of visual, auditory, vocal, or olfactory disturbances brought about by the migraine itself.
All the above can exasperate a person, which can cause stress and anxiety which may only exacerbate the severity of the headache. Anxiety alone is thought by some to be yet another form of Migraine Aura. Migraine Auras have been described by some as "Alice in Wonderland Syndrome" because the author of that book was said to have drawn on his experiences with migraine auras in creating characters and scenes for the book.1
It is thought by researchers that the same thing that brings on a migraine headache also triggers the aura. So the best treatment to deal with aura is to deal with the root cause - treat the headache.
