In people with inherited bleeding disorders such as hemophilia and von Willebrand disease, the blood does not form clots due to a deficiency of blood-clotting substances. The inability to form blood clots can lead to easy bruising, spontaneous bleeding, or excessive bleeding following injuries or surgery. Furthermore, if alcohol bruises are a result of liver damage, you likely have alcoholic liver disease, which causes severe dysfunction in the liver.
When the receptors are exposed to alcohol, like when you pour alcohol-based disinfectant onto an open cut, the alcohol molecule lowers the temperature threshold required to send this signal. Easy bruising can be a side effect of some over-the-counter dietary supplements such as ginkgo, ginseng, and garlic. They can thin your blood and make it harder for blood to clot after you knock into something. If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, please see the
National Library of Medicine’s list
of signs you need emergency medical attention or call 911.
Yellowing of your skin and eyes
Even if you aren’t experiencing severe health problems like cirrhosis from alcohol, seeking early treatment can prevent an alcohol use disorder from progressing 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. Chronic alcohol misuse has a negative effect on every system of the body. Something people might notice with ongoing, severe alcohol misuse is bruising from alcohol. So, why do alcoholism and bruising sometimes go hand-in-hand? Learn the answer, as well as how to get help with medication assisted treatment for alcohol use, below.
Easy bruising is the frequent appearance of purple, brown or red discolorations on your skin. According to the Mayo Clinic, skin becomes thinner with age, resulting in a smaller barrier between skin and the blood vessels. Take an over-the-counter pain medicine, such as acetaminophen. Check with your doctor before using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like aspirin or ibuprofen, because these can make bleeding and bruising worse.
Video of Can Alcohol Make You Bruise Easily
If you’ve noticed consistent weight gain, it may be time to reflect on your drinking habits. Research studies on the association between weight gain and alcohol consumption have ended in conflicting results. In other words, weight gain isn’t inevitable, but do alcoholics bruise easily you could still tip the scale up from drinking too much alcohol. Additionally, drinking can aggravate certain skin conditions, such as psoriasis and rosacea. Meanwhile, binge drinking focuses more on how quickly and how much you drink in one sitting.
- 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.
- The inability to form blood clots can lead to easy bruising, spontaneous bleeding, or excessive bleeding following injuries or surgery.
- Petechiae, and haematomas, when occurring without trauma, are suggestive of a bleeding disorder2(Box 1).
- Certain medications — like aspirin, ibuprofen, and blood thinners — may get in the way of your body’s ability to form a clot.
- Most bruises eventually disappear as the body reabsorbs the blood, although healing might take longer as you age.
It usually lasts for between two and three days, and it can be fatal. Despite efforts to hide their addiction, their drinking problem is quite obvious to others. Work performance usually suffers at this stage, and impairment in the workplace is common. Middle-stage alcoholics may become irritable or angry if confronted about their drinking.
Liver disease
You should also seek medical attention if your bruises appear on parts of your body where injuries are unlikely to occur, like your torso, back, face or on the backs of your hands. Ditto if they start to appear after you’ve started a new medication. “When your own immune system attacks blood cells or the actual blood vessels themselves, it increases the risk of bruising,” Dr. Kappel says. When there’s not enough hemoglobin to go around, the body’s red blood cells aren’t able to function properly. Because they act as the body’s oxygen-delivery service, your cells won’t receive enough oxygen to thrive, making your skin more susceptible to bruising. Meanwhile, a vitamin K deficiency might translate into black stool and blood clots underneath the nails, in addition to being more susceptible to bruising.
On dark 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. People with medium skin tones may see more red and yellow color in their bruises than people with light or dark skin tones. Others notice they have easy bruising after a minor bump.
In fact, alcohol causes lots of people to bruise more — and not just because you’re more prone to falling when you’re drunk.
“There are many genetic blood abnormalities that can cause easy bruising,” Dr. Kappel says. There are more than 100 types of liver disease, according to the American Liver Foundation. On top of that, your blood vessels become more fragile, so even the slightest bump can leave a mark. Below, a highlight reel of possible reasons behind your bruises to help you — with an assist from your doctor — get to the bottom of why you’re always black and blue. If you need help because of domestic violence or sexual assault, talk with a healthcare professional, or access resources and assistance through our domestic violence resource guide. Children are often more prone to bruising than the average adult.
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 light skin tones, bruises may start out red or purple soon after the injury, then turn light brown, green, or yellow as it heals. On people with dark skin tones, bruises can look purple, dark brown, or black.
