As part of Migraine Awareness Week (September 3-9), BBR Optometry would like to remind patients and members of the wider community about the importance of regular eye examinations if you suffer from regular headaches.

Migraines can be very debilitating for those who suffer from them and have an estimated global prevalence of 14.7% equating to around one in seven people. Symptoms can be diverse, including flashing lights, zig zag patterned visual disturbances, nausea and a severe headache. 

Suzanne Wadsworth, clinical lead at BBR Optometry, says: “There are many causes and triggers that mean people suffer from migraines but we would advise anyone who has them to first ensure their eye examinations are up-to-date.

“An eye examination can turn up a variety of issues that may be causing headaches such as staring at a computer screen for too long or working in overly bright or dim light may be the culprit. 

“Some causes of headaches can be simply treated with prescription lenses such as astigmatism, myopia (short-sightedness), hyperopia (long-sightedness) or presbyopia, a condition in which the lens has become hard and inflexible with age, making it difficult to focus at near distance. It is also important to investigate how well the eyes are working together which we call binocularity tests. 

“Migraines are complex and the cause is not well understood. It is therefore important to determine whether or not some common eye conditions are contributing towards the symptoms and we use the latest digital retinal scanning to discover if patients may have an underlying pathological cause. Migraines have a neurological link and visual field testing will also be performed to explore this further. It is also extremely important to attend if you have no previous migraine history and you experience migraine symptoms after the age of 60,” she added.

So if you are experiencing frequent headaches why not call us and book an eye examination now.