Aura

The aura in a migraine is the time before the actual migraine pain is felt. This point in time manifests itself with extreme disturbances of perception, visual disturbances, balance disturbances, neurological failures and speech disorders. The field of vision is restricted, the perception is blurred or only parts of it are visible.

In addition, a changed sense of touch and sensitivity to touch can occur. A tingling sensation, possible muscular deficits are neurological disorders, which is why a migraine patient is treated by a neurologist. The phase of the aura is perceived and felt differently by each patient.

It also does not occur in the same way in every migraine. Some patients who suffer from migraine do not feel an aura at all, which is why migraine is divided into migraine with aura and migraine without aura. After the symptoms of an aura have appeared, a migraine attack follows.

Based on the warning, the patient can already take appropriate measures, i.e. leave work, go home, avoid driving, etc. After an aura, however, a migraine attack does not necessarily occur; it may just have been a harbinger. In general, the aura and the migraine attack cannot be avoided, but the corresponding trigger factors should be avoided.

Migraine attack/duration

A migraine attack can be either with or without signs. In the case of the signs (aura), immediately before the migraine attack, the patient has changes in perception, visual disturbances, balance problems or simply a feeling of weakness. As mentioned above, the symptoms of the aura can also be felt but are not followed by a migraine attack.

In addition, in some patients, regardless of a combination of a migraine attack with an aura, extreme fatigue, frequent yawning or premature noise and light sensitivity in the days before the migraine attack indicate that a migraine attack will occur. The duration of a migraine attack varies from patient to patient and ranges from several hours to 3 days.The earlier the patient notices the migraine attack, the earlier he or she can take his or her appropriate medication to reduce the effect. In addition, external influences such as light, noise and stress can worsen the attack or, by reducing the factors, the symptoms can be overcome more quickly. Since a migraine patient is sensitised for years, he can interpret his signs in time and often enough stops his current activity early enough and seeks rest.