Bruises: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Remedies, Prevention

These direct and indirect effects of alcohol can result in serious medical problems for the drinker. For example, anemia2 resulting from diminished RBC production and impaired RBC metabolism and function can cause fatigue, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, and even reduced mental capacity and abnormal heartbeats. Finally, alcohol-induced abnormalities in the plasma proteins that are required for blood clotting can lead to the formation of blood clots (i.e., thrombosis). Although the different blood cells have distinct structures and functions, they are all produced at the same site, the bone marrow, in a complex process called hematopoiesis. The production of all types of blood cells begins with undifferentiated precursor cells—so-called pluripotent stem cells—that can develop into whichever cell type is needed at that time.

• Individual drinkers appear to differ in their susceptibility to alcohol-induced thrombocytopenia.
• Certain medications and excessive alcohol can work in tandem to suppress or amplify the effects of the other.
• For example, compared with healthy people, alcoholics are less resistant to infections by microorganisms that normally are eradicated by monocytes and macrophages, such as the bacteria that cause tuberculosis and various forms of pneumonia.
• Moreover, the proportion of the different cell types in the blood is relatively constant.
• The inflammatory phase initiates the healing process and involves the recruitment of proinflammatory cells into the wound site where they participate in host defense through secretion of chemokines and cytokines.

Long-Term Health Problems Associated with Chronic Heavy Drinking

By following an effective treatment plan set out by your healthcare team, you can help slow the progression of cirrhosis and delay or prevent possible complications—especially if caught early. It’s easy to see how serious complications, including liver failure, can develop as a result of cirrhosis. Although a healthy liver is able to repair itself, the damage is often too extensive once it becomes cirrhotic. Widespread scarring inhibits blood flow to the liver, which in turn compromises its primary functions. Especially if you have been drinking heavily for many years, coping with alcohol use disorder is not easy.

• The early stages of alcohol-related liver disease often have no symptoms.
• Cirrhosis occurs when the liver has been inflamed for a long time, leading to scarring and loss of function.
• Alcoholism emerges from alcohol abuse, when there’s a pattern of drinking despite negative consequences.

Withdrawal Symptoms

Something people might notice with ongoing, severe alcohol misuse is bruising from alcohol. Learn the answer, as well as how to get help with medication assisted treatment for alcohol use, below. One can also hide a bruise by applying a neutralizing concealer that’s one or two shades lighter than one’s skin tone. “Over-the-counter pain relievers and creams that contain arnica or vitamin K may help reduce pain and swelling, but there is limited evidence to say they rapidly accelerate resolution of a bruise,” adds Portela. At the very least, he says it’s important to work to not re-injure the area again, which will only delay the healing process and might make the bruising worse. He also suggests keeping the bruise out of direct sunlight while it heals, if possible.

Consult With Confidant’s Online Doctors For Alcohol Treatment

Blood loss occurs primarily in the gastrointestinal tract (e.g., at the sites of peptic ulcers) and is increased in patients with reduced platelet numbers. Folic acid deficiency impairs RBC production and results from decreased ingestion, decreased absorption, and abnormal metabolism of folic acid. Many blood disorders result from impaired or abnormal production of blood cells. These disorders can be diagnosed by microscopic analysis of bone marrow samples;1 This type of diagnosis allows the physician to determine the overall number of cells in the bone marrow as well as the proportion of abnormal cells. For example, different types of leukemia are characterized by the accumulation in the bone marrow of WBC precursors at specific developmental stages. According to the American College of Gastroenterology, females who consume more than two drinks per day and males who consume more than three drinks per day for more than 5 years are at an increased risk for alcoholic liver disease.

More on Substance Abuse and Addiction

These spurs are caused by the incorporation of excess amounts of cholesterol into the cell membrane, resulting in an increase of the cell’s surface area without a corresponding increase in cell volume. Modestly elevated membrane cholesterol levels result in a flattened RBC shape, whereas larger increments of cholesterol cause the membrane to be thrown up into spikes. To what causes bruising in alcoholics a lesser extent, vacuoles also develop in the granulocyte precursors of alcoholics. This finding is not specifically alcohol related, however, because other events that interfere with WBC production (e.g., infections) may induce similar structural changes in the granulocyte precursors. Because denial is common, you may feel like you don’t have a problem with drinking.

Health Categories to Explore

Your doctor will likely suggest you use a brace or crutches for bone bruises in your legs and feet. Rarely, if your bone bruise is very large, you may not recover blood flow in that area. Call your doctor if your symptoms don’t start to get better in a few days or if you have any symptoms of an infection, such as a high fever. Sometimes alcohol causes such severe damage to the body that a liver transplant may be necessary. In this case, there may be some improvement in the symptoms of alcoholic neuropathy after the liver transplant, but the neuropathy may also be so advanced that there may be little, if any, improvement, even after a transplant. Alcohol can interfere with these processes at several levels, causing, for example, abnormally low platelet numbers in the blood (i.e., thrombocytopenia), impaired platelet function (i.e., thrombocytopathy), and diminished fibrinolysis.

Age and genetic factors

• Adults with low vitamin K levels may also notice a sudden increase in bruising.
• Under the influence of certain proteins (i.e., growth factors), this stem cell multiplies and differentiates into increasingly committed precursor cells.
• Platelets help the blood clot, so a low level of them can cause easy bruising.
• Symptoms of a concussion include a headache that won’t stop or gets worse, loss of balance, vomiting, blood or clear fluid coming out of your ears and nose, memory loss or confusion, and mood changes, such as crankiness.

Treatment for Alcoholic Neuropathy

Liver Damage And Bruising