For many people living with migraine, light and visual stress is the enemy
Bright artificial lighting, harsh repetitive patterns, glare and flickering lights can all trigger or worsen attacks.
Photophobia (sensitivity to light) can be one of the most disabling aspects of migraine.
And here lies the elephant in the room: colour prescribed with precision can bring remarkable relief, but no one can yet say exactly why.
What We Know About Colour and Migraine
Research, much of it led by Professor Arnold Wilkins over four decades, has shown that colour can reduce visual stress in people with migraine. The right shade, often unique to the individual, can calm overactivity in the visual cortex and make light more comfortable.
But the science isn’t definitive. Varying theories suggest that colour changes the way the brain processes visual information, the way light and pattern stimulate the brain, or alters contrast. The mechanism remains uncertain.
And yet, time and again, patients report the same experience: Colour can bring comfort.
The Intuitive Colorimeter: Finding your Bespoke Colour and Shade
At Vision Through Colour, we use the Intuitive Colorimeter, an instrument developed with Professor Wilkins’s research, to make colour personal.
The Colorimeter helps a clinician to narrow down from over 10,000 subtle colour variations under controlled conditions. Patients work with the clinician to identify the precise shade that eases their discomfort. From this, precision tinted lenses can be prescribed.
This isn’t about a universal solution — it’s about precision. The Colorimeter provides a scientific way to find the colour that works for you.
How you can Start Exploring Colour for Yourself
The uncertainty around “how” precision coloured tints can work so well is real. Studies are mixed, and what helps one person may not help another. But, at Vision Through Colour, the team sees every day how colour changes lives, from personal experience and from patients.
That’s why we encourage people to start small:
Try the free Symptom Checker — an easy first step to see if visual stress may be affecting you and contributing to your migraines.
Explore a Visual Stress Assessment with the VisionThrough Colour team and the Intuitive Colorimeter to experience colour in action.
Real Stories, Real Comfort
Read Angie's story about how her life, living with migraine, has been transformed by precision coloured glasses.
Watch Shona and Jon's story to see how colour has impacted their daily lives.
On our YouTube channel, hear directly from Professor Arnold Wilkins about his decades of research into colour and the brain.
Learn about Light or pattern sensitivity in neurodivergence and migraine. Listen to a talk by Andrew Keyes about light sensitivity, visual stress and neurodivergence.
These stories highlight the lived reality: colour can bring tangible comfort, even where scientific understanding is still catching up.
For individuals, the toll is measured not only in missed workdays but in missed life moments. That’s why bringing relief, like comfort from colour, matters.
Migraine in the UK: A Hidden Cost. Around 10 million people live with migraine in the UK (Migraine Trust, 2021).
It costs the economy £4.4 billion a year in absenteeism alone (NHS England RightCare Toolkit, 2020).
Direct NHS costs are estimated at £1 billion annually (Migraine Trust, 2021).
Moving Forward: Engage With Colour
This Migraine Awareness Week, the message is simple:
- Acknowledge that colour works for many, even if we don’t yet know why.
- Take the first step with the free Symptom Checker.
- Explore a Visual Stress Assessment with an experienced team, using the Intuitive Colorimeter.
At Vision Through Colour, the goal is clear: to bring patients comfort through the power of colour.
Because, even if the science is still establishing the “how,” what matters most is the experience: for many people with migraine, colour makes light livable again.
References:
Migraine Trust. State of the Migraine Nation – Population Rapid Review, 2021.
Migraine Trust. State of the Migraine Nation – Impact Rapid Review, 2021.
NHS England. RightCare Headache & Migraine Toolkit, 2020.
Wilkins, A.J. et al. A neurological basis for visual stress and its treatment with tinted lenses, Vision Research, 2025.
Read nearly 300 of Professor Arnold Wilkins' research papers: here
Want to find out more? Simply call us on 0191 284 7361, email info@visionthroughcolour.co.uk or WhatsApp a message to +44 7554 880862
