Flashing lights are pretty when they’re part of a Christmas or Fourth of July display, but when they regularly occur as part of the early stages of a migraine headache, they quickly lose their luster.

Migraines have the reputation of being able to totally disable a person, and for good reason. If you’ve ever experienced a migraine, also known as a vascular headache, you know that the pain in your head can be so intense that you’re physically unable to do more than lie in bed in a darkened room and wait for the pain to subside.

Before a migraine hits fully, the flashing lights appear because the constricted arteries reduce the flow of blood to the part of the brain that controls your vision. In addition to the flashing lights, you may experience blind spots, vertigo, and nausea. These are all signs that a migraine is imminent.

We don’t know exactly what causes a migraine headache. However, at a migraine’s worst, the carotid and vertebral arteries in the brain, which supply it with blood, first narrow and then swell up, sometimes to twice their normal size. This decreases the amount of blood supplied to your brain. The combination of the swollen arteries and the reduced blood supply is the reason for the crushing pain that can totally incapacitate you. Most migraines last from a few hours to several days. After the pain subsides, you’ll probably feel groggy and lethargic for a while.

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