Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems. This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that’s sometimes called alcoholism.
- Chronic heavy drinking can cause alcoholic hepatitis, which is the inflammation of your liver.
- To diagnose ALD, a healthcare provider will assess alcohol use, ask about symptoms, and conduct several tests.
- Blood pooling and clotting beneath the surface causes skin discoloration.
- The liver metabolizes most of the alcohol you consume, breaking it down into acetaldehyde.
Causes of Alcoholic Neuropathy
There are normally no symptoms, and alcoholic fatty liver disease is often reversible if the individual abstains from alcohol from this point onward. The early signs of alcoholic liver disease are vague and affect a range of systems in the body. Having hepatitis C or other liver diseases with heavy alcohol use can rapidly increase the development of cirrhosis. However, in advanced alcoholic liver disease, liver regeneration is alcohol and bruising impaired, resulting in permanent damage to the liver. Medication can help reduce some of the symptoms of alcoholic neuropathy.
Treatment
If you feel that you sometimes drink too much alcohol, or your drinking is causing problems, or if your family is concerned about your drinking, talk with your health care provider. Other ways to get help include talking with a mental health professional or seeking help from a support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or a similar type of self-help group. Alcohol related liver disease (ALD) is the result https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/cannabinoid-hyperemesis-syndrome-what-is-chs/ of drinking more alcohol than the liver can process, which damages the organ. The liver, responsible for performing many functions in the body, processes what the body needs, discarding what it doesn’t. As the liver breaks down the alcohol, the chemical reaction releases a toxin, which damages liver cells. If too much alcohol is ingested repeatedly over time, even without getting drunk, liver damage begins.
Types of Bruises
Over time, your brain’s structure and function change, leading to tolerance, meaning you may require higher amounts of alcohol to achieve the desired effects. These brain changes contribute to the compulsive nature of addiction, making it difficult to abstain from alcohol. The brain is highly vulnerable to the damaging effects of alcohol, which disrupts communication between brain cells. Excessive or chronic alcohol use can lead to a steady decline in cognitive function, causing memory problems, difficulty learning new information, mood changes, and behavior changes. Chronic alcohol use and binge drinking damage the heart muscle, making it harder for the heart to pump blood effectively.
- But long-term and excessive alcohol consumption can lead to liver inflammation (liver hepatitis).
- Easy bruising can cause large bruises in multiple areas of the body, often at the same time.
- Once alcohol use has been addressed, a doctor can focus on treating alcohol-related neuropathy itself.
- The bruises will look like regular bruises, but they can be larger.
- According to the CDC, moderate drinking is defined as having two standard drinks or less per day for men and one drink or less per day for women.
The liver metabolizes most of the alcohol you consume, breaking it down into acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is a toxin that can damage the body’s organs and tissues before it is further broken down into acetate. Years of moderate to heavy drinking can cause liver scarring (fibrosis), increasing the risk of liver diseases like cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, fatty liver disease, and liver cancer. Furthermore, if alcohol bruises are a result of liver damage, you likely have alcoholic liver disease, which causes severe dysfunction in the liver.
On darker skin tones, you may not notice redness at the time of injury. Instead, you may feel a bump under your skin and it may be tender. As the bruise develops, the skin over your bruise may look dark brown or black. In general, people with darker skin and hair will have darker-colored bruises.
