Why You Bruise Easily: 9 Potential Causes

Heavy drinking can also look like occasional binge drinking — more than five drinks in a night for males or four for females. Binge drinking at least five times a month is considered heavy. If you keep up this pace for as few as six months, your risk of developing alcohol-induced hepatitis rises significantly. Most people have been drinking for five years or more, with periods of abstinence. It’s what happens when chronic inflammation does cumulative damage to your liver over time. As cells in the inflamed tissues die, they’re gradually replaced with scar tissue. When a significant portion of your liver tissue has become scar tissue, that’s cirrhosis. In Western societies, alcohol-induced hepatitis causes 50% of cirrhosis cases.

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You don’t want to let an underlying medical condition go undetected. Among the more serious causes of bruising is leukemia—a cancer of the blood cells. Typically, platelets help your body minimize bleeding, but you’ll be more susceptible to bruising if your platelet count is low due to leukemia. Only a doctor can diagnose leukemia, so set up an appointment if you have concerns.

Reasons You Bruise Easily

Her background includes the study of basic and clinical brain injury, including the publication of research regarding mechanisms of epilepsy pathophysiology. Her work has elucidated the role of glial and neuronal cell profiles in viral-induced brain injury and acute seizures. Through these degrees, she obtained experience with patient care and education as well as an understanding of the necessity of respecting patient experience and symptoms. Dr. Loewen’s focus is firstly patient care and education. She also provides literature analysis and aids in the publication of Cognitive FX’s research. If you abuse alcohol, talk to your doctor about ways to quit. It’s also very important to see your doctor if you have signs or symptoms of cirrhosis. Early signs and symptoms include unintended weight loss, poor appetite, nausea, vomiting and mild pain in the upper right side of the abdomen.

The scientific explanation is that when you drink alcohol your blood vessels dilate, allowing more blood to flow near the surface of your skin, giving your face a red glow. This gene mutation is more common among people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent and owing to the consequences of drinking they are less likely to abuse alcohol. Some people who use alcohol experience pain with drinking. Most of the time this pain is due to alcohol intolerance or allergies to alcohol or other beverage ingredients. Other health issues also may be at work, and some of these conditions may be more serious. They include Hodgkin’s disease and carcinoid syndrome. Although exceedingly rare, easy bruising is a common symptom among people with blood cancer.

What is considered 1 drink?

Meanwhile, in alcoholism skin can also suffer, as metabolism of alcohol depletes levels of B vitamins that otherwise promote a healthy circulation to deliver additional nutrients to your skin. Older people bruise more easily, as aging skin becomes thinner and loses some of the protective fatty layer underneath that do you bruise easier when drunk helps cushion blood vessels from injury. Too much alcohol affects your speech, muscle coordination and vital centers of your brain. A heavy drinking binge may even cause a life-threatening coma or death. This is of particular concern when you’re taking certain medications that also depress the brain’s function.

Cirrhosis occurs when the liver has been inflamed for a long time, leading to scarring and loss of function. Cirrhosis damage is irreversible, but a person can prevent further damage by continuing to avoid alcohol. If a person continues to drink alcohol it will lead to ongoing liver inflammation. It can also occur acutely during periods of binge drinking.

Dr Luke Pratsides, lead GP at Numan revealed what physical signs could start to appear if you’re drinking too much. Dr Michael Levy, author of Take Control of Your Drinking, said there are many reasons as to why people could develop a drinking problem. If you’ve built up a tolerance to Sober Home alcohol then it could be difficult to spot the signs of when you’ve had too much to drink. No matter how careful you are, you’ll probably still get them from time to time. To avoid bruises, crack down on clutter at home and always wear protective gear when you exercise or play sports.

do you bruise easier when drunk

“You want to have a very thorough evaluation to make sure you’re not just attributing to drinking and liver disease when it may be something else entirely,” Dr. Ragni said. Ice and cold packs constrict blood vessels and slow the flow of blood to injection sites. As a result, the risk of bruising from injections is reduced. As an added bonus, applying packs just before treatment numbs the area and may alleviate discomfort from the needles. Fortunately, the vasodilating effects of alcohol are short-lived.