It can lead to negative consequences in various areas of life, including health problems, relationship issues, and difficulty fulfilling duties at work or home. Despite these consequences, individuals with alcohol use disorder continue to drink, often consuming larger quantities than intended. To summarize, heavy drinking can cause liver damage, which leads to easy bruising through multiple mechanisms. The damage to the liver impairs its ability to filter toxins and produce clotting proteins, affecting blood vessel health and function. Additionally, alcohol’s vasodilatory effects increase blood flow, making minor impacts more likely to cause bruising. Firstly, alcohol is a vasodilator, causing blood vessels to relax and expand, which increases blood flow throughout the body.

Changes in your skin

So, the next time you’re out with friends, remember to pace yourself and drink plenty of water. Some people may also experience night sweats due to alcohol withdrawal syndrome or alcohol intolerance. Additionally, research has shown that alcohol may alter the composition of helpful microorganisms in your gut. These organisms play a crucial role in your gut and immune system function.

Who Is at Greater Risk for Bruising After Drinking?

According to the National Library of Medicine, a bruise is a mark under the skin, usually painful and swollen, that occurs because of blood trapped beneath the skin’s surface. When a person gets a bruise, some sort of injury crushes blood vessels, but the skin does not break and cause external bleeding. What all of this means is that people who live with an alcohol use disorder are likely to consume large quantities of alcohol. While some people may have just a drink or two on special occasions, people with an alcohol use disorder may lose control of their drinking, and consume ten or more drinks, for example. They may have such a high tolerance that they do not show any overt signs of intoxication, despite drinking large amounts. Most people who drink heavily will progress through the stages of liver damage described above over time.

This influences the long-term production of clotting factors and places the sufferer at an enhanced risk of bruises. How a bruise looks depends on a lot of things, including your natural skin tone, how bad the injury that caused it was, and how long you’ve had it. You will likely see some discolored skin until the bruise completely heals. But a serious bruise is more likely to be large, painful, swollen, or lumpy. Go to the ER right away if you get a bruise (sometimes called a “goose egg”) on your head and can’t remember what happened or think you’ve got a concussion.

• With a stone bruise, you may notice pain or tenderness when you press on that point on your foot, pull up on your toes, or flex your foot upward.
• Other signs of an alcohol use disorder include spending a significant amount of time drinking, or consuming larger quantities of alcohol than intended.
• Alcohol use disorder, or alcoholism, is characterised by compulsive drinking and difficulty controlling alcohol intake.
• Hematomas are more serious than ecchymoses, and they generally need medical attention.

Types of Bruises

When the liver is damaged, it can no longer filter alcohol correctly, and it may not be able to keep the bloodstream healthy. As a result, you may be more likely to smack your knuckle on the knob and wake up with a bruised hand the next day. Motor control issues may begin when your blood alcohol level reaches 0.06, and they get really bad at 0.1. Under normal circumstances, your brain communicates with your body by sending signals through your central nervous system. Alcohol, like other psychoactive substances, interacts with your central nervous system by altering some of the chemical communication processes.

• Well, alcohol intake may lead to night sweats by speeding up your heart rate and widening your blood vessels, triggering the release of perspiration.
• But a serious bruise is more likely to be large, painful, swollen, or lumpy.
• This can further contribute to impaired motor control and increase the likelihood of falls or accidents.
• This condition results in the accumulation of fatty acids in the liver, causing severe dysfunction and impairing its ability to filter toxins from the blood effectively.
• They have experienced no trauma, and the bruises they have are large and appear frequently.

Is Bruising After Drinking a Sign of Alcoholism?

Treatment options are available, including medication-assisted treatment, therapy, and coaching. Seeking help is a crucial step towards a healthier and more fulfilling life, free from the negative consequences of alcohol use disorder. Chronic alcohol consumption can damage the liver, leading to liver disease and affecting blood clotting, which results in easier bruising and bleeding. While the exact mechanism may vary, there is a clear link between alcohol consumption and easy bruising. It is important to note that while the bruises themselves are not dangerous, they can indicate underlying health issues related to alcohol consumption.

Alcoholism and bruising can co-occur, indicating an alcohol use disorder

It’s not likely, but it’s possible that your bruises are a sign of blood cancer, such as leukemia. If you also feel tired, achy, and weak all the time, or lose weight without trying to, give your doctor a call. We don’t mean you woke up with a black-and-blue mark because you bumped into something after one too many cocktails. But if you often drink a lot of alcohol and you tend to get a lot of bruises, it may mean you’ve got liver problems. They may look reddish-purple on lighter skin tones and brownish-black on darker skin tones. A hematoma is a large pool of blood that may come from a serious injury, such as a major fall or a car accident.

When you get an injury, blood may leak from the vessels (veins and capillaries) under your skin. The discoloration you see as a bruise on the surface of your skin is from blood that has pooled in or under your skin. On people with lighter skin tones, bruises may start out red or purple soon after the injury, then turn light brown, green, or yellow as they heal. On people with darker skin tones, bruises can look purple, dark brown, or black. You may avoid possible health problems by limiting your alcohol consumption. When it comes to drinking, remember to always prioritize your well-being and make appropriate decisions.

Every sip does another tiny bit of damage and impairs healing, and that can lead to more bruising. According to the National Kidney Foundation, heavy drinking for women involves having more than three drinks in one day or more than seven drinks per week. Heavy drinking for men involves more than four drinks in one day or more than 14 drinks per week.

This is because it affects the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that controls reasoning and higher brain function. Since alcohol also lowers your inhibitions, you may be more likely to try something Drinking and Bruising that you normally wouldn’t do, including potentially dangerous physical activities. This is also why people may be willing to get behind the wheel of a car while they’re drunk.

Since alcohol slows down central nervous system activity and communication, you take longer to register stimuli and decide what to do. It increases your chances of being hit in the forehead with an incoming football, but it may also cause you to bump into people or objects. Some bleeding disorders can cause easy bruising, and those that seem speckled with purple splotches on a regular basis may think they are experiencing symptoms of a disorder like this. Those who bruise easily and don’t have a family history of a bleeding disorder are unlikely to have a bleeding disorder themselves.

In this case, you should go see your doctor to find out what’s going on. On darker skin tones, you may not notice redness at the time of injury. 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. People with medium skin tones may see more red and yellow color in their bruises than people with lighter or darker skin tones.

It’s less serious than a bone break, but the injury has damaged some part of the inside structure of your bone. You may get bone bruises from sports injuries, car crashes, falls from a height, joint sprains, or medical conditions like arthritis. An alcohol use disorder is a legitimate medical condition that causes lasting changes in the brain. Once a person develops an alcohol use disorder, they will continue to drink, even in the face of serious consequences, such as health problems caused by alcohol. Brain changes from repeated alcohol misuse lead to compulsive drinking and make it difficult to stop without treatment. Alcohol is a vasodilator, which means it causes blood vessels to relax and expand.