Christie Brinkley Reveals Serious Eye Problem, Undergoes Frightening Surgery
Christie Brinkley was surprisingly calm about a doctor drilling into her eyeball for a surgery she needed last week. The supermodel said her ophthalmologist discovered she had acute angle closure and needed a procedure to fix the issue as soon as possible. This was the latest medical procedure for Brinkley, who also had hip replacement surgery last year.
Back on Dec. 15, Brinkley posted a photo of herself behind her eye doctor's equipment on Instagram. "[I] want you to read this, so you will always be able to," Brinkley began, replacing "I" with an eye emoji. "I just discovered that I have something called Acute Angle Closure. I only found out because I included an eye exam as part of my yearly physical check-up and my brilliant ophthalmologist spotted this problem."
Brinkley noted that her doctor could fice the issue by "drilling a hole" through your eye. "It's not as gruesome as it sounds. In fact, I just had it done in this photo, piece of cake," she wrote. "But if left untreated it could have resulted in vision loss...So I'm very grateful!" Brinkley, 67, also thanked her doctor and told her 736,000 followers to make sure they get eye check-ups as well.
Brinkley's fans were happy to see her doing well after the scary operation. "Isn't it just amazing what the Docs can do these days," one fan wrote. "I'm happy to hear they caught it in time," another commented. "So glad they detected that... annual eye exams are important as are good doctors," another fan wrote.
Acute angle closure is an uncommon, urgent issue, according to the American Association of Ophthalmology (AAO). Symptoms included blurred vision, painful red eye, headache, vomiting, and nausea. "Diagnosis is made by noting high intraocular pressure (IOP), corneal edema, shallow anterior chamber, and a closed-angle on gonioscopy," according to the AAO. "Medical or surgical therapy is directed at widening the angle and preventing further angle closure. If glaucoma has developed, it is treated with therapies to lower IOP."
Brinkley has plenty of experience with life-saving procedures. Last fall, she finally had hip replacement surgery to fix lingering issues caused by the injuries she sustained in the 1994 helicopter crash she survived. She was told she would need the hip replacement surgery over 12 years ago but kept holding it off, even as the hip pain became worse. Brinkley also needed medical attention after breaking her wrist while rehearsing for Dancing With the Stars in 2019. Brinley was replaced by her daughter, Sailor Brinkley-Cook, who finished the season in third place.