Does Alcohol Affect Your Skin?

Alcohol has several effects on the body and its organs. Alcoholism can lead to organ failure, brain damage, and many other undesirable effects.

When we consider the effects of alcoholism on the body, people don’t often consider what alcohol can do to the largest organ of the human body: the skin.

Alcohol Dehydration

When a person struggles with alcoholism, it is common to feel thirsty or dehydrated. This is a pretty common side effect of alcohol consumption.

Dehydration affects the skin by making pores more visible, wrinkles more pronounced, and overall elasticity decreases.

Research on skin aging suggests that chronic alcohol consumption accelerates the visible aging process by depleting moisture, disrupting collagen synthesis, and impairing skin barrier function. These effects all compound over time with sustained heavy use.

Alcoholism And Rosacea

Rosacea is a skin condition that results in visible blood vessels and redness in the face (usually across the cheek area and forehead). Rosacea can affect the eyes and also lead to rhinophyma (thickening of the skin on the nose, resulting in a bulbous appearance). There have been several studies that connect rosacea and alcohol.

According to a 2017 cohort study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, two important facts were noted:

• Red wine is widely recognized as a rosacea trigger, meaning it can cause flare-ups in people who already have rosacea, likely due to histamine, resveratrol, and other compounds that cause flushing
• White wine and liquor, by contrast, were associated with actually developing rosacea in the first place, according to the study. The researchers suggest this may be because these beverages have high alcohol concentrations without the anti-inflammatory flavonoids found in red wine

It appears that avoiding certain types of alcohol can lower the chances of rosacea flare-ups in those who already have rosacea, while avoiding others will lower the chances of developing rosacea. Even further, avoiding alcohol altogether will lower the risk of issues related to rosacea.

Note: The aforementioned research focused on women; the relationship between alcohol consumption and rosacea risk in men is less studied.

Inflammation And Alcoholism

When a person consumes alcohol, it causes blood to rise into the skin tissue. When blood rushes to these delicate tissues, it causes inflammation. This results in red, blotchy patches of skin and can lead to ruddiness, discoloration, and dehydration.

When this level of inflammation is continued over long periods of time, like when a person is struggling with alcoholism and drinking often, it can cause premature aging of the skin.

UV exposure is considered the primary external driver of premature skin aging, followed closely by oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Alcohol contributes to all three of these mechanisms: it generates free radicals (oxidative stress), promotes systemic inflammation, and, when consumed in large amounts outdoors, is often associated with sun exposure without adequate UV protection.

Alcoholism, Malnutrition, And Your Skin

Consuming large amounts of alcohol over long periods of time can lead to the body not being able to absorb necessary nutrients, leading to malnutrition. Not having proper nutrition will certainly affect your skin in a negative way.

Additionally, the body does not see alcohol as a usable nutrient, so the body works very hard to get the alcohol out of the system. The body slows or ceases other functions to remove the alcohol.

As a result of malnutrition, skin becomes dull, lifeless, saggy, blotchy, dry, flaky, red, and does not heal quickly.

Alcohol Is A Toxin

Alcoholism causes liver damage, cell damage, issues with the immune system, and can impede hormones and insulin production.

Alcohol acts as a diuretic, and when it pulls moisture out of your skin, the dehydration can also leave skin looking dull.

When a person with alcoholism continues to put a toxin like alcohol in their body, the effects can be observed in the skin. Puffiness under the eyes, acne, pasty skin, broken capillaries, or a red nose are just some of the effects of alcohol on the skin.

What Happens To Skin After You Stop Drinking?

To understand how the skin recovers when you stop drinking, it’s important to understand the changes that are happening in the body:

After one hour

The liver starts working overtime to get rid of the alcohol in the body, so every part of your body (including the skin) is being cleansed.

As the body begins processing alcohol as a priority, other metabolic functions slow. Blood sugar regulation may be temporarily disrupted, as alcohol interferes with the liver’s normal glucose production.

After one day

Individuals who suffer from rosacea will see mild improvement in their rosacea symptoms. However, the skin will still be visibly blotchy and hasn’t rehydrated yet.

After one week

Skin will be noticeably improved. It will appear healthier and seem to have that “youthful” glow to it.

As the skin begins to heal from the inflammation and toxic exposure, it can cause breakouts. This is a result of the skin pushing out the toxins through the pores.

After one month

Skin will appear more hydrated, more colorful, and less swollen.

After one year

In most cases, after one year, the liver has repaired itself significantly. This can be observed by the appearance of your skin.

Skin will have a naturally radiant glow and look healthier overall.

Will My Skin Heal Completely Without Alcohol?

Your skin will heal as much as it can once alcohol is no longer being consumed.

The damage that repeated alcohol misuse does to other organs in the body is the same as it does to the skin. Some damage can be healed, but long-term, repeated alcohol exposure can cause irreversible damage.

Help Your Skin Heal From Alcohol Damage

Thankfully, there are some things that you can do to help your body recover from the damage that alcohol can cause:

• exercise
• stay hydrated
• nutrition supplement – especially vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B3, B6, E, and Omega 3
• wear non-comedogenic makeup
• remove make-up at the end of the day

The most important thing you can do to help your body recover from alcohol damage is to stop drinking alcohol.

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Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff