Alcohol abuse negatively affects the entire body. It affects the cardiovascular system, liver and kidneys, aggravates chronic diseases. Addiction also affects the appearance of a person. You have probably come across photos comparing people before they started using drugs and alcohol and after some time. The changes are startling — people with addiction look much older than their years. And this is largely due to the effects of psychoactive substances on the skin: drugs and alcohol cause wrinkles, dehydrate the skin, make it more oily and less firm.
Remember, you can always stop and maintain your health. Giving up drugs or alcohol won’t make your skin as smooth as a baby’s, but it will stop aging rapidly and you’ll look much better. The New Breath Recovery (California) clinic has a full range of alcohol and drug addiction treatment facilities. An individual rehabilitation program is selected for each patient, which takes into account the current state and age of the person. Treatment takes place in a comfortable environment with everything you need, including the constant care of medical staff and the services of a chef. With our help, sober life becomes more real.
Common Skin Issues Linked to Alcohol Consumption
The influence of alcohol on the human body has been studied for the last few decades. And it has already become a fact — even a slight consumption of such drinks negatively affects the state of health.
Many studies have been conducted on the relationship between alcohol consumption and skin aging. One of the latest works belongs to Greg D Goodman and his team. Scientists studied the relationship between alcohol consumption and facial aging in women. The experiment involved women from all over the world between the ages of 18 and 75.
The results were disappointing:
- even infrequent alcohol consumption led to puffiness under the eyes and loss of volume in the midface;
- alcoholics had 7 out of 11 facial features that showed signs of aging;
- heavy drinkers had visible blood vessels and rosacea on their faces.
Learn more about how alcohol affects skin aging below.
Dehydration
Everyone who has consumed alcohol at least once has felt a dry mouth in the morning and a desire to drink as much water as possible. This is not a pleasant feeling because ethanol draws water out of the cells. It is also a strong diuretic, affecting the body’s natural regulation of water excretion.
How does it affect the skin? It becomes dry and saggy, wrinkles appear, and dark circles appear under the eyes.
Increased oil production
Alcohol abuse affects the production of fat secretions. This is especially noticeable on the skin of the face. The alcoholic has a characteristic greasy sheen due to the fact that more sebum is produced than is needed to protect the skin from external influences.
This fat is mixed with dirt, particles of keratinized skin and becomes a good environment for the development of microorganisms. At first it is manifested by black dots on the nose, forehead or chin. This means that the pores are clogged and the skin is unable to cleanse itself. Later, black dots turn into pimples — the condition of the skin deteriorates significantly.
Decrease in collagen production
Why do alcoholics have bad skin? It’s all about collagen. This protein is responsible, among other things, for the elasticity of the skin. Alcohol affects collagen. People with alcohol addiction produce less of this protein, its deficiency leads to wrinkles, sagging.
Rosacea
Rosacea is a skin disorder characterized by pink rashes on the face caused by dilated blood vessels. If the causes of this skin disease are not addressed, rough thickened areas can form on the face, which add 5-10 years to the actual age.
Alcohol is the most powerful substance that can cause rosacea. This is because the breakdown of ethanol produces histamine in the blood. This substance leads to dilation of skin vessels and facial redness. Interestingly, different types of alcoholic beverages in their own way affect the exacerbation of rosacea. Thus, red wine causes a greater effect than white wine.
Increased sensitivity
Alcohol or its related substances often lead to the development of allergic reactions. For example, it can be atopic dermatitis or urticaria. The skin because of them looks ugly, the affected area is often not limited to the face, it can be the whole body. Rashes appear quickly and the only effective way to fight them is to give up alcohol.
Poor wound healing
The ethanol found in alcoholic beverages directly affects the human immune system. People with alcohol addiction have a decreased number of white blood cells, which are responsible for fighting infections and helping in wound healing. Therefore, alcoholics take longer for wounds to heal and in some cases can develop serious infections and complications.
Vitamin deficiencies
Vitamins and minerals play an important role in strengthening immunity, maintaining a healthy psycho-emotional state, and ensuring normal cognitive activity. Their deficiency affects human health.
The problem is that alcohol leaches vitamins from the body. For example, B1 (nervous system, healthy skin color), C (immunity), E (cardiovascular system), A (liver), PP (psyche).
Increased inflammation
When ethanol enters the bloodstream, blood vessels dilate. This causes reddening of the skin, which is especially noticeable on the face. With prolonged drinking, this can lead to the effect of permanent inflammation caused by the appearance of capillary mesh. Sugar-containing alcoholic beverages have a great negative effect, which increase inflammation.
Accelerated Aging: The Role of Alcohol
Recent research by Oxford Population Health has shown that alcohol causes premature aging. Moreover, any amount of it. But there is a direct link: the higher the dose of alcohol, the greater the negative impact.
Scientists have found a link between telomere shortening (DNA sequence) and drinking beverages containing ethanol. For example, those people who drank 10 glasses of wine a week had a biological age 1-2 years older than people who drank 2 glasses of wine.
Factors That Influence the Effects
The main factors influencing the effects of aging as a result of alcohol consumption are:
- seniority;
- amount of drinking;
- binge drinking;
- mix of drinks;
- age;
- state of health.
The longer a person drinks alcohol, the more often he or she goes on a binge, the worse he or she looks. General health, age-related changes, and the habit of drinking several drinks containing ethanol at the same time make the situation worse.
Why Professional Alcohol Addiction Treatment is Your Skin’s Second Chance
Can you reverse skin aging from alcohol? In some cases where it is related to dehydration, it is possible. But the longer a person is addicted, the greater the irreversible effects. It may take time and special care for the skin to return to the condition it used to have. In any case, treating alcoholism is necessary — it will positively affect everything, including health and appearance.
Do you want to give a second chance to yourself and your skin? We recommend contacting a specialized clinic to get an initial consultation. This can be done at our New Breath Recovery Rehab, which is nestled in a cozy location in California. All conditions are created here to defeat your addiction and most importantly, to avoid further relapses. Our medical professionals are focused on results. That’s why they are around 24/7 and ready to provide all the help you need. You will feel at home here: it’s cozy, you will have your own personal space in a single or double room, many leisure options, favorite dishes prepared by our chef. But most importantly, here you will be assisted in the treatment of alcohol addiction.
The principle of alcoholism treatment is to assess the patient’s condition, collect tests, and identify the causes of the disease. At this stage, an individual treatment program is developed. Usually it includes detoxification and complex therapies.
Medical detox is aimed at the safe removal of ethanol and its breakdown products from the body. At this stage, the addicted person is particularly vulnerable as they experience painful and dangerous withdrawal symptoms. With the help of medications prescribed by the doctor, it is possible to improve the patient’s condition, motivate him or her to recover and reduce the risk of relapse.
The next stages of treatment are associated with various types of psychotherapy. All of them are aimed at helping a person cope with the craving for alcohol, learn to identify dangerous triggers and seek help in a timely manner. Great importance is given to individual and group therapies, family is involved, which makes an invaluable contribution to recovery.
The medical staff of the rehabilitation center constantly monitors the dynamics of treatment and adjusts tactics as necessary. This is the individualized approach that has proven to be the most effective way to defeat addiction.