Zach Gilford sparks concerns with extremely swollen face: 'Looks incredibly painful'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Criminal Minds' star Zach Gilford gave his fans a shocking health update as he uploaded a series of photos to his Instagram stories on Tuesday, December 17, with a very swollen face. 

Although the the 42-year-old actor, shared a series of pictures of his swollen face which landed him at the hospital on Monday, December 16, according to Parade, he did not reveal the condition, leaving some fans concerned and wondering what it could be.

Zach Gilford struggles to keep his eyes open for extremely swollen face 

Zach Gilford, who is also known for starring in 'Friday Night Lights', uploaded his first photo on his Instagram story that showed the left side of his face swollen, causing his left eye to fully close. 

"Sooooooo.. Yesterday was fun," he captioned the selfie. The post followed a second selfie which showed the extreme swelling with the star likely struggling with his eyesight too. 

The swelling caused one of his eyes to be completely shut, while the other appeared strained as he tried to keep it open as he donned a blue face mask. 

"Good thing we wrapped @criminalminds last week," he joked in text over the image.

Zach Gilford is grateful to doctors for coaxing his face back to 'normalcy' 

Zach Gilford shared a third selfie with his face less swollen and his eyes not as puffy.

The actor was grateful to the doctors who had assisted with his treatment and wrote in the photo. "Thanks to all the nurses, doctors, and staff at @huntingtonhospital for coaxing my face back to normalcy," he said.

However, Gilford explained that there was "still a little ways to go" until he was completely back to normal. 

Internet expresses concern over Zach Gilford's swollen face

Meanwhile, some fans expressed concern about Zach Gilford's unrecognizable appearance.

"Good grief, that looks incredibly painful...he recovers soon," one wrote on X. "That's not him," wrote another over his unrecognizable appearance.

Few questioned if it was an allergic reaction but slammed the actor for not revealing the cause. "Allergic reaction to…. ???? Weird how he won’t say what it was," wrote one more.

"God Bless! Praying for his recovery," one wrote on Instagram. "This definitely looks like an allergy of some sort but he’s lucky it didn’t affect his breathing like swelling his throat. Hope he recovers soon," commented someone else.

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