A 20-year-old woman from Rhondda has been diagnosed with a rare brain condition after her optician noticed something unusual in images taken of her eyes during her standard eye test. Emelia Jones, who works as an NHS call handler, had been experiencing splitting headaches for several months - which had become so painful she'd sometimes find herself unable to get out of bed - and consequently booked an eye test at her local opticians to get her sight checked.
During her eye test at Specsavers Treorchy, Emelia was given an "optical coherence tomography test" which involves looking into a device which takes 1,000 images of the back of the eye and then layers the images together. The images helped optometrists see a detailed view of their patients' eye's deeper structures and ascertain if anything needed to be addressed.
When reviewing Emelia's images, optometrist Anna Rees noticed there was a swelling at the back of Emelia's eyes and advised her to go to hospital for further tests. At Royal Glamorgan Hospital, Emelia undertook a lumbar puncture and a CT scan of her brain - and was later diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a rare condition where spinal fluid collects in the brain. You can download the WalesOnline app for the latest news stories directly to your phone.
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It's understood Emelia may not have realised how severe her condition was - and therefore not been able to receive the treatment or medication she needed - had her optician not urged her to go to hospital, or if she hadn't booked an eye test.
Explaining what led to her eye test, she 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 [my optician] noticed there was inflammation to the nerves behind my eyes," Emelia added. "She didn't explain much at the time, it was only when I went to the hospital about three days later [after the optician had booked me a hospital appointment] that they said there was an increase in pressure in my head.
"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." You can get more story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Explaining her diagnosis, Emelia added: "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."
Manager at Specsavers Treorchy, Emma Davies, has praised her colleague, Anna Rees, for detecting Emelia's issue and advising that she got booked in to see a hospital specialist. "We're really pleased we were able to detect the problem early enough and refer Ms Jones to hospital for further investigations," she said. "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."
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