Side Effects of Alcohol Abuse
- Your skin: Alcohol causes the blood vessels in your face to dilate upon the skin, resulting in a red and ruddy face. Plus, if you have a skin condition like Rhodesia or psoriasis, alcohol can trigger a flare.
- Your weight: When you binge drink, you’re putting tons of empty calories into your body – and yet you’ll still be hungry. Drinking also weakens your judgment and can easily interfere with healthy eating habits.
- Your immune system: Some studies show that your immune system is reduced after drinking alcohol. Chronic drinkers are more liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too much. And drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
- Your sleep: Alcohol upsets your REM (rapid eye movement) cycle or the phase of sleep most important for your body to rest.
- Your brain: Alcohol suppresses three parts of your brain: the frontal lobes (helps you make decisions); the amygdala (warns us of danger and makes us feel afraid, worried and anxious); and the hippocampus (makes memories).
- Your heart: Drinking can damage the heart, leading to the following problems, notes the NIAAA:
- Cardiomyopathy (stretching and drooping of heart muscle)
- Arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat)
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
Treatment Options
Addiction is a difficult challenge to face on your own. However, overcoming the side effects of alcohol abuse is treatable. At Red Oak Recovery®, we offer a number of addiction treatment options. For example, inpatient treatment may be best for people who have faced addiction for several months or years. Outpatient treatment, however, may be ideal for you if you’ve been through addiction treatment before, and just need help getting back on the wagon.
Moreover, we offer a variety of holistic and evidence-based therapies. Holistic therapies are therapies that treat the mind, body, and soul of the person facing the addiction. However, evidence-based therapies are therapies that medical professionals and psychologists have studied to ensure that they are effective in stopping addictions. These therapies may include:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Dialectical behavior therapy
- Yoga therapy
- Animal-assisted therapy
- Nutritional therapy
These treatment options are ideal for stopping the side effects of alcohol abuse.
