When someone develops an alcohol use disorder, they will show signs or symptoms that are characteristic of this condition. Only a couple of drinks can cause vasodilation of blood vessels close to the skin, leading to potential bruising if you bump your body against a hard surface. According to Scott Swartzwelder, Ph.D. (coauthor of Buzzed), consistent vasodilation caused by drinking alcohol leads to more blood flowing through your blood vessels. This condition occurs naturally in our bodies in response to various stimuli. However, excessive vasodilation caused by external factors, like drinking alcohol, can be problematic.
- It’s not completely clear why some people are more prone to this complication than others.
- Wrap the ice pack before you put it on so you don’t freeze your skin, and don’t leave it on for more than 15 minutes at a time.
- The excessive alcohol in the bloodstream becomes too much for the liver to process, posing a risk of generalized tonic-clonic seizures.
- To find the cause of your bruising, your health care provider will likely do a physical exam and ask questions about your symptoms and medical history.
Consult With Confidant’s Online Doctors For Alcohol Treatment
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. If a person continues to drink alcohol it will lead to ongoing liver inflammation. Alcoholic hepatitis is a severe syndrome of alcoholic liver disease. Hepatitis is a general term for swelling and inflammation of the liver from any cause.
Why is easy bruising so common in older adults?
Check with your doctor before using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like aspirin or ibuprofen, because these can make bleeding and bruising worse. After your injury, put an ice pack on it every once in a while for the first hours. Wrap the ice pack before you put it on so you don’t freeze your skin, and don’t leave it on for more than 15 minutes at a time. But if the cells that regrow your nail (called the nail matrix) are damaged, it may grow in incorrectly or you may not regrow your nail at all. If necessary, your doctor can pierce your nail to drain the blood and fluid built up underneath. Don’t do this yourself because you could hurt yourself further, cause an infection, and slow your healing process.
While bumping into something while drinking may seem relatively harmless, the truth is that excessive drinking can set you up for serious injuries from falling or other accidents. Furthermore, in extreme cases, bruises from drinking can be a sign of liver damage, which can be dangerous. Even if you aren’t experiencing severe health problems like cirrhosis from alcohol, seeking early treatment can prevent an alcohol use disorder from progressing liberty cap characteristics and causing severe complications. If alcohol begins to interfere with daily functioning, but you have been unsuccessful with giving up drinking, seeking treatment can help you to stay committed to recovery.
When to Seek Professional Help for Alcohol-induced Bruising?
The first step in treating any level of alcoholic liver disease focuses on removing alcohol from the diet. Alcoholic liver disease is liver damage from overconsuming alcohol. Someone with decompensated cirrhosis may develop ascites (or fluid in the abdomen), gastrointestinal bleeding, and hepatic encephalopathy, in which the brain is affected. In compensated cirrhosis, the liver remains functioning, and many people have no symptoms. In liver failure, the liver is severely damaged and can no longer function.
Treatment for End-Stage Alcoholic Liver Disease
There are many other potential causes of bruising, including injury, certain medications, and underlying medical conditions. If you’re concerned about bruising, talk to your doctor about other possible causes. Bone bruises usually last longer (1-2 months) than soft tissue bruises, and they’re more painful, but most will heal with rest and the same home care as for other types of bruises. Your doctor will likely suggest you use a brace or crutches for bone bruises in your legs and feet.
However, if you bruise easily, even a minor bump can result in a substantial bruise. After stopping drinking, which is the first step in any treatment of ALD, an assessment will be made sober houses in boston as to the extent of the damage and the overall state of the body. It does not take into account factors such as body composition, ethnicity, sex, race, and age.
More and more people are sober curious, toying with the notion of drinking less. If you have a bruise on your breast and don’t know how you got it or have other symptoms, go talk to your doctor. These look a partial hospitalization program bay area little like a rash with purple, red, or brown dots of blood, but they aren’t raised or bumpy. The guidelines classify moderate drinking up to one drink a day for females, and up to two drinks for males, and only over the age of 21 years. In these cases, treatment focuses on preventing further damage and treating other factors that can make the disease worse, such as infection and malnourishment.
Alcohol use speeds up the liver’s destruction, reducing the liver’s ability to compensate for the current damage. Unfortunately, once a bruise has formed, not much can be done to treat it. Most bruises eventually disappear as the body reabsorbs the blood, although healing might take longer as you age. Eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and avoiding liver-damaging foods such as fried foods, can also help the liver heal during treatment. In some cases, supplementation with vitamins may be recommended.