An optician spotted something unusual during a woman's routine eye test - and it led to her being diagnosed with a rare brain condition. Emelia Jones, 20, had been suffering from headaches for months.
They were getting worse, sometimes leaving Emelia unable to get out of bed. She thought it was perhaps related to her eyesight and that she might need glasses, so she booked an appointment at her local Specsavers.
Soon she was with pre-registration optometrist Anna Rees, 25, who found swelling at the back of Emelia's eyes. She suggested that she should go to hospital for more detailed tests.
Emelia, an NHS call handler from Rhondda, Wales, went to Royal Glamorgan Hospital where she had a lumbar puncture and a CT scan of her brain. She was soon she was diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension - a rare condition where spinal fluid collects in the brain.
Emelia told the Mirror : "In September last year I started developing the headaches, I had one consistently every day until February when I went to the opticians. It was a constant something in my head, mostly towards the middle but it also travelled towards my eyes. If I got up suddenly the pain would increase, and it was a sharp shooting pain that would last for about 40 seconds then I would just have a headache again.
"You got used to it after a while. I went to the opticians in February, I had been talking to some of the women I work with and they said they got headaches and needed glasses, so I thought I needed glasses.
"I went to see if there was anything wrong with my vision. They told me my vision was completely fine, at the moment it's still 20/20, but they did an optical coherence tomography scan and she noticed there was inflammation to the nerves behind my eyes."
At Specsavers Trerchy, Emelia was given an optical coherence tomography test - where more than 1,000 images of the back of the eye are taken using the same technology as NASA to measure the effect of space travel on the eye. Those images are then layered to give the optometrist a more detailed view of the eye's deeper structures. After reviewing the layered image, Anna recommended that Emelia should visit a hospital - but initially, she had no idea what was wrong.
She continued: "She didn't explain much at the time, it was only when I went to the hospital about three days later that they said there was an increase in pressure in my head - the optician had booked me into an appointment at the hospital. With the first appointment, they didn't diagnose me then, they wanted to keep an eye on the swelling, but they booked me in to see me two weeks later and that's when I was diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension.
"Basically, my body is producing too much spinal fluid- it's increasing the pressure in my head causing the inflammation of the nerves and the headaches. I'm hoping it will go away, my consultant said it is something that can sort itself out, so we'll just have to wait and see."
Emma Davies, manager at Specsavers Treorchy, said: "We're really pleased we were able to detect the problem early enough and refer Ms Jones to hospital for further investigations. It crucially highlights the importance of having your eyes tested - at least every two years – as broader health problems can be identified, and we can refer you for further medical treatment if necessary. Our ethos at Specsavers is about ensuring the safety of our patients and providing the best quality care – so we are proud that Anna was able to identify the issue and help Ms Jones get the treatment she needs."
