There are many people who often confuse between optical migraine and ophthalmic migraine and use both the terms interchangeably. But, both these migraines are considered to be different based upon the visual obstructions associated with the attack of migraine.
In ophthalmic migraine, the person may or may not suffer from a headache but has various forms of visual disturbances or obstructions that start in the center and further move towards the sides. The most common visions or auras experienced by the sufferers are zigzag lines, geometric patterns, flashing lights, bright colors, blind spots and shimmering lights.
Even though, the visual aura described above exist in both the kinds of migraines, optical differ from ophthalmic. In ocular or optical migraine, the headache is experienced as a pain coming from behind the eye that is affected and causes severe pain around the eyes. The basic cause of optical migraine is impaired functions of blood vessels, eye strain and weather change.
Ophthalmic headache also experiences pain but that occurs at the height of the migraine attack. It is believed that the ophthalmic migraine can develop into a silent migraine at a later stage, eventually leading to severe visual obstructions and other physical manifestations unaccompanied by a headache.
answered by J