Dami Amoo, 28, from West Bromwich, Birmingham, discovered that her long-standing headaches were caused by a serious condition that could have left her blind, after a routine eye test at Boots Opticians.
Amoo, who had suffered from headaches since university and assumed they were "just part of life," visited the opticians in August this year after being accidentally hit in the eye by a ball. Instead of eye drops, she was told she had swelling behind her eyes on her optic nerve, a condition called papilloedema, and was sent to the eye hospital immediately.
Diagnosis and Emergency Treatment
At Birmingham & Midland Eye Centre, doctors confirmed her optic nerve was swollen. She was sent to A&E, where she was advised she would need a CT scan, an MRI, and a lumbar puncture to officially diagnose the condition.
She was formally diagnosed with papilloedema, swelling of the optic disc caused by increased pressure inside the skull, due to idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), a condition where pressure around the brain becomes too high for no known reason, causing severe headaches, vision changes, and pain behind the eyes.
Impact and Ongoing Care
Amoo, a colleague engagement and comms manager for a high street bank, is now enrolled on a clinical trial at the University of Birmingham, with her health being monitored. She has since been diagnosed with sleep apnoea and anxiety and said she is still experiencing "really, really, really terrible headaches," blurred vision, and tinnitus.
Reflecting on the diagnosis, Amoo said: "The doctor said that if I’d left this untreated, that I could potentially lose my eyesight permanently. I’m just trying to think of a situation where I would have gone to the eye clinic naturally, just be like: 'oh, let me check my eyes today'. That wouldn’t have happened at all. So I’m really grateful that I got hit in the eye with a ball."
Shaniah Dacosta-Palmer, optometrist at Boots Opticians West Bromwich, said: "When Dami came in for her eye test, it was obvious that something wasn’t quite right. Despite her vision not being impacted, it was evident that she had signs of papilloedema, prompting me to refer her to the hospital."
Dacosta-Palmer added: "I’m so glad that Dami came in that day as this experience highlights why regular eye tests are so important, even when your vision seems perfectly fine. Eye tests have the ability to uncover serious conditions and potentially save your sight and, on rare occasions, even your life."
