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A migraine aura is a particular class of prodrome, or premonition, that is a sign of a migraine. It is a symptom or progression of indications that let migraineurs, people who experience constant migraines, know in advance that a migraine headache is about to make itself felt.

Aura effects crop up over about five minutes and in general transpire from twenty minutes to an hour prior to the onset of a headache. They are a warning sign of what used to be called “classic migraine”. Recently, medical physicians have moved to a more scientifically precise term, migraine-with-aura. Only nearly 15-20% of migraineurs consistently are inflicted with any kind of aura before a headache surfaces.
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Aura Effects

Most migraine auras are visual. These auras are called positive visual phenomena because, rather than their ability to see fading or going dark, people who are inflicted with them see things. Examples include:

-Auras or Haloes: a nimbus radiance or cloud surrounding matter, specifically light sources

-Blinking or Floating Lights: colored or white (infrequently dark) spots that appear to move

-Lightning Bolts: a jagged or zigzag line that flickers and/or bends above the field of eyesight; with the regularity or gravity escalating over time until the person can no longer see (a white-out); This effect commonly discontinues with the inception of headache pain.

-Photophobia: an extreme sensitivity to light; this effect commonly lasts the duration of the headache

Most auras keep on for less than an hour. Migraineurs who experience auras that last more than an hour are said to suffer from migraines with long-drawn-out aura. In some cases a migraineur may live through aura effects without a headache resulting, but it is still considered to be an indication of chronic migraines.

At several times the same person may be subjected to all three variations, migraine with aura, migraine with prolonged aura, or typical aura without headache.