Why am I sensitive to light during a migraine?
Sensitivity to light during a migraine — called photophobia — is a very common feature and part of the recognised criteria for the condition. It's thought to reflect how the brain and visual pathways become hypersensitive during an attack, so that normal light feels painfully bright and can worsen the headache.
What's happening in a migraine brain
During a migraine attack the nervous system becomes more excitable and less able to filter sensory input, so ordinary levels of light, sound and even smell can feel overwhelming. Research points to connections between the light-sensing cells in the eye and pain-processing regions of the brain, which helps explain why light doesn't just bother you but can actually intensify the pain. This is a genuine neurological feature of the attack, not oversensitivity or imagination.
Light, sound and the wider picture
Photophobia rarely travels alone — it usually comes with sensitivity to sound (phonophobia) and sometimes to smell, which is why so many people retreat to a dark, quiet room during an attack. Some people also notice heightened light sensitivity between attacks. Because these sensitivities are core migraine features, their presence is a useful signal that a headache is migrainous rather than a simple tension headache.
How tracking helps
Recording light and sound sensitivity with each attack captures how disabling your migraines really are and supports an accurate description for a clinician. It can also help you notice whether the sensitivity is confined to attacks or lingers between them. Temple logs these features per attack; it documents your pattern and doesn't diagnose or treat. Temple is a tracking tool, not medical advice — for anything specific to you, consult a healthcare professional.
Temple logs light and sound sensitivity with each attack, so how disabling your migraines truly are is documented for you and your clinician.
Common questions
- Is light sensitivity a sign of migraine?
- Sensitivity to light, or photophobia, is one of the core features used to identify migraine, usually alongside sound sensitivity. Its regular presence with a headache points toward migraine rather than an ordinary tension headache, though a clinician makes the final assessment.
- Why do I want to lie in a dark room during an attack?
- Because a migraine makes the nervous system hypersensitive, ordinary light and sound can feel painful and worsen the headache, so a dark, quiet room brings relief. It's a normal response to a genuine neurological feature of the attack.