Why You Bruise More Easily When You Drink Alcohol

Excessive alcohol consumption is a risk factor for cirrhosis. The liver damage done by cirrhosis generally can’t be undone. But if liver cirrhosis is diagnosed early and the cause is treated, further damage can be limited and, rarely, reversed. There may be no symptoms, or symptoms may come on slowly. Symptoms tend to be worse after a period of heavy drinking. The most common reaction to getting Botox injections is getting a bruise at the injection site. Since alcohol thins your blood, this does increase the chances of having some bruising. That doesn’t mean you will definitely bruise but by drinking, you are rolling the dice. If you are someone who knows you bruise easily then, I would absolutely avoid alcohol. In the early stages of liver disease, stop drinking will allow the liver to heal itself.

bruising and alcoholism

The first step is finding a reputable alcohol or other drug addiction treatment provider. You’ll want to find a rehab center that has medically-supervised detox capabilities so that you can comfortably and safely detox from alcohol. There are inpatient and outpatient options, but an addiction specialist should determine the best level of care for you based on your individual needs. It’s what happens when chronic inflammation does cumulative damage to your liver over time. As cells in the inflamed tissues die, they’re gradually replaced with scar tissue. When a significant portion of your liver tissue has become scar tissue, that’s cirrhosis.

How One Clinic is Addressing Skyrocketing Alcohol-Related Liver Disease Rates

Once the liver stops functioning, an organ transplant may be an option. During a transplant, surgeons remove the damaged liver and replace it with a healthy working liver. In fact, cirrhosis is one of the most common reasons for a liver transplant. You and your medical team will need to assess if you are an appropriate candidate through a transplant evaluation.

More severe blunt-force trauma can cause significant internal bleeding when you’re drunk. More serious injuries, like falling and hitting your head, falls from up high, or vehicle collisions, can be more deadly to a person that’s drunk. Car accidents caused by drunk driving may be even more likely to result in a fatality for people that are drunk when they sustain injuries. Injuries that you might be able to recover from when sober may cause you to bleed out quickly when you’re drunk. So if you bump your body on a hard, blunt surface, your relaxed blood vessels are more likely to release the floodgates. Since more blood will be released to pool beneath the skin, your alcohol bruises may seem bigger and more intense than your sober bruises. When ingesting alcohol, the blood vessels in the body expand and relax.

Treatment for Alcoholic Neuropathy

Alcohol-induced hepatitis is inflammation of your liver from alcohol use. Too much alcohol overloads your liver with toxins that injure your tissues. Alcohol-induced hepatitis was formerly known as “alcoholic hepatitis,” which referred to alcohol use disorder. However, you don’t have to have a disorder to acquire hepatitis from alcohol use. Those who regularly drink more than the recommended daily limits of alcohol should not stop drinking without medical support. Individuals should seek help from a medical professional to safely manage alcohol withdrawal. The first step in treating any level of alcoholic liver disease focuses on removing alcohol from the diet. Lifelong abstinence can improve liver function, but the permanent and severe damage from cirrhosis might mean that the person needs a liver transplant to survive. Drinking a large volume of alcohol can cause fatty acids to collect in the liver.

Any drinking by pregnant women or those younger than age 21. Warts are infectious growths that form on the skin, caused by human papillomavirus . Although they can form anywhere, warts usually appear on the elbows, palm of your hands, and underneath your feet. •Low platelet counts may predict alcohol withdrawal complications. They aren’t caused by bumping into something, they don’t usually feel tender when you touch them, and they take longer to heal. You’re most likely to see them on the backs of your hands and arms.

Learn how liver pathology ultrasounds are used to diagnose and manage chronic liver disease. People who have obesity are at a higher risk of alcohol-related liver disease. Women are more likely to develop alcohol-related liver disease than men. Alcohol-related liver disease actually encompasses three Sober House different liver conditions. One of your liver’s jobs is to break down potentially toxic substances. When you drink, different enzymes in your liver work to break down alcohol so that it can be removed from your body. Basra G, Basra S, Parupudi S. Symptoms and signs of acute alcoholic hepatitis.

bruising and alcoholism

In case of severe damage, the liver cannot heal or return to normal function. The disease is common in people between 40 and 50 years of age. However, women may develop the disease after less exposure to alcohol than men. Some people may have an inherited risk for the disease. The first treatment line is to stop drinking alcohol completely.

In Western societies, alcohol-induced hepatitis causes 50% of cirrhosis cases. Dry skin is a common problem and although everything from sun exposure and cold winds to very low fat diets can dry out your skin, your choice of beverage can also strip your skin of moisture. When you are dehydrated on the inside, less water is available to moisturize your skin, leading to skin that appears rough, flaky and is more prone to sensitivity and itching. The liver is a vital organ that has the ability to heal itself, even after years of heavy drinking.

What are the five signs of liver damage?

  • Fluid Retention. When there is a buildup of scar tissue in the liver known as cirrhosis, the blood flow through the liver is blocked.
  • Jaundice.
  • Nausea/Loss of Appetite.
  • Pale Stools.
  • Bruising.
  • Caring for Your Liver.

The complications are not life-threatening but it could cause you to have some adverse cosmetic reactions. The knowledge of the nature of the phenomenon of alcohol-induced thrombocytopenia in a clinical environment allows decisions that are more rational. The attention of clinicians should be drawn to the importance of results of blood tests routinely collected on admission. You bang your toe on the closet door, and before too long, it turns a garish black and blue. But sometimes you spot a bruise and you can’t figure out how you got it. Check out these common things that may cause those blotches and learn how to prevent them. There are several steps you can take to help improve the health of your liver.

Your liver helps the blood in your body clot and move evenly in the blood vessels. When it is damaged and can’t filter alcohol properly, bloodstream health will decline. The liver does a good job at this, but it has trouble keeping up if heavy quantities of alcohol have been ingested. This is when you may become intoxicated and feel the effects of alcohol. The liver can become damaged and swell, causing cells to die and scarring to develop. This scarring keeps the liver from doing its job – which includes managing blood cells.

  • In severe cases, they may treat you with enteral nutrition while you’re in the hospital.
  • High blood pressure in the veins that supply the liver .
  • Due to the link between alcohol and psoriasis, as you might expect the skin condition is more common among alcoholics and achieving abstinence can reduce the severity of symptoms.
  • It’s nice to have people who genuinely care about their clients…” -Robert D.
  • According to the American Liver Foundation, between ten and twenty percent of heavy drinkers will develop alcoholic liver cirrhosis from repeated and excessive alcohol use.

Early withdrawal symptoms include headaches, anxiety, nausea, irritability and shaking. If you don’t stop drinking after diagnosis, you have a reduced life expectancy. For males in this group, the five-year survival rate is about 70%. People with severe alcohol-induced hepatitis and advanced liver disease have poorer outcomes. Up to 40% of people with severe alcohol-induced hepatitis die within six months of diagnosis.

bruising and alcoholism

The first step is to treat alcoholism so that the damaging alcohol abuse stops. Then the foot doctor can formulate a plan that best suits you to reverse the nerve damage as much as possible. This may include the use of vitamin supplication , prescription medications, galvanic stimulation and/or magnetic therapy. The phenomenon of thrombocytopenia related to heavy drinking began to arouse interest in the 1960s and 1970s. It was initially described in case reports and clinical studies on small bruising and alcoholism groups. In the following years, the phenomenon itself and the significance of alcohol-induced thrombocytopenia was studied. Many methodological difficulties inhibiting objective conclusions from research were encountered. Model pathological mechanisms of alcohol thrombocytopenia and the effects of alcohol on the structure and function of platelets were described. Furthermore, the phenomenon of rapid normalization of the number of platelets in people who stopped drinking was described.

Eco Sober House

Bob has an old army injury in his knee that developed arthritis. He took pain medicine for years until, suddenly, he got very sick. After a year’s journey of illness and treatments, Bob received a liver transplant. bruising and alcoholism A large proportion of people who develop liver cancer have pre-existing cirrhosis. Not everyone with chronic hepatitis will develop cirrhosis, but it’s one of the world’s leading causes of liver disease.

Alcoholic neuropathy is also caused by nutritional deficiency, as well as toxins that build up in the body. Alcohol decreases the absorption of nutrients, such as protein and vitamin B12, causing significant deficits that affect many areas of the body, including the nerves. Our muscles need to receive a message from nearby nerves in order to function. When this message is interrupted due to damaged nerves, the muscles cannot function as they normally would. This most often manifests with weakness of the hands and feet. Verywell Mind articles are reviewed by board-certified physicians and mental healthcare professionals. Medical Reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research.

Affiliate Disclosure

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price as they would otherwise, and your purchase helps to support The Trek's ongoing goal to serve you quality backpacking advice and information. Thanks for your support!

To learn more, please visit the About This Site page.

What Do You Think?