The model is using her diagnosis to raise awareness.
Christie Brinkley is opening up about her skin cancer diagnosis. In a recent TODAY Show interview, she detailed how she found out by chance while accompanying her daughter to a doctor’s appointment.
“I was in the room, and he had this little magnifying glass out, and he’s looking at a couple of things that she was worried about,” Brinkley said on Tuesday. “I thought, ‘There is that little spot right on the side of my head right here…Should I say anything? It’s not my appointment.'”
Luckily, she spoke up and pointed to a “tiny dot” on the side of her head. “He looked and he goes, ‘We’ve gotta do a biopsy immediately,'” she recalled. “And then the biopsy came back: cancer.”
As we close Skin Cancer Awareness Month, Brinkley also reminded everyone to slather on SPF and use sun protection as we head into warmer weather. “We’re starting summer, and it’s just time to remind everybody to really use your sunblock, wear a hat, and get a checkup,” she said.
Her latest appearance comes just two months after the 70-year-old revealed that she had a form of skin cancer known as basal cell carcinoma and underwent surgery. The model included an image of the bandaged-up left side of her forehead, a “before” image accompanied by a graphic content warning showing a gaping hole where the doctor had operated, and a photo of her stitched-up wound.
“The good news for me is we caught the basal cell carcinoma early,” she wrote. “And I had great doctors that removed the cancer and stitched me up to perfection like a haute couture Dior.”
Before her diagnosis, she admitted that she didn’t always take her own sun protection seriously. “I got serious a bit late so now for this ole mermaid/gardener, I’ll be slathering on my SPF 30, reapplying as needed, wearing long sleeves and a wide-brim hat,” she said.
Brinkley went on to urge people to go to their dermatologist and get their annual skin check-ups. She marveled at how “lucky” that hers was caught. “He took a look and knew immediately it needed a biopsy! He did it then and there! So make your own good luck by making that check-up appointment today,” she added before thanking her doctors.
Her diagnosis is hardly isolated. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC, also called basal cell skin cancer, or just basal cell cancer) is the most common type of skin cancer. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 3.6 million people are diagnosed each year, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. It starts in the basal cells, which exist within the skin and produce new skin cells to replace old ones as they die off, and it often appears as a slightly transparent bump on the skin, the Mayo Clinic explains.
While anyone can get skin cancer, long-term exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays is considered the main culprit. That explains why it can usually be spotted in exposed areas, such as your face and neck. And if you’re fair-skinned or spend a lot of time at tanning beds (where UV rays also lurk), you could be especially at risk.
But the good news is that the condition is very treatable if it’s caught early. The best way to prevent it is to take precautions like wearing sunscreen (SPF 15 or higher) and opting for SPF clothing or a wide-brimmed hat. As Brinkley emphasized in her social media post, “Slather up, my friends!”
