A NINETEEN-year-old student from Bordon is urging people to head to their opticians for an eye test following her own visit which resulted in a potentially life-threatening condition being discovered.

Stephanie Brandenburg, a primary education university student at Winchester University, had been experiencing bad headaches for six months. Her condition was attributed to possible food triggers or dehydration by her GP, so she made a few lifestyle changes but with little success.

The tipping point came during her summer job last year at a children’s holiday club in Liphook. Lots of excitable and loud children made her headaches unbearable, so she again visited her GP who recommended an eye test.

Stephanie booked an appointment with Specsavers in Alton, and it was during the examination that new optical store director Jo Duncan suspected something serious.

Jo had looked at Stephanie’s eyes using specialist digital retinal photography that allows an optometrist to closely examine structures inside the eye and she spotted swelling of the optic disc, a condition known as papilloedema, which indicates raised pressure inside the skull, which could be caused by life-threatening conditions such as a brain tumour or bleeding. Jo called the eye department at Frimley Hospital and arranged an urgent referral for Stephanie. Doctors found the pressure inside Stephanie’s skull to be double the normal level.

Stephanie said: “It was a pretty terrifying experience.”

Following an MRI scan, Stephanie was diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension – which is raised pressure inside the skull without a detectable cause. She received a lumbar puncture to control the swelling and now takes medication to manage the condition.

While it’s impossible to know what could have transpired if Stephanie hadn’t visited Specsavers, Jo is relieved it was caught before anything more serious developed.

She said: “Signs of optic nerve swelling are something every optometrist dreads, especially in someone young like Stephanie. We were all very relieved to hear that this was caught in time and that Stephanie’s condition is being managed with the right medication.”

Stephanie said: “I had a feeling something wasn’t quite right with the headaches I was experiencing, and if I hadn’t visited Specsavers I dread to think what could have happened. I would say to anyone who hasn’t had an eye test in the past two years to have one. If you also experience any concerns about your sight or have bad headaches, do visit your optician.”