There are many other potential causes of bruising, including injury, certain medications, and underlying medical conditions. If you’re concerned about bruising, talk to your doctor about other possible causes. Alcohol and unexplained bruising could point to liver damage from drinking. Easy bruising and bleeding are signs of cirrhosis, which is a serious liver disorder. This condition has a alcohol and bruising high mortality rate and is not reversible.
Brain
As liver functioning declines from chronic alcohol misuse, a person is likely to bleed and bruise easily. While casual to moderate drinking may be a part of life for some, excessive or chronic alcohol consumption can significantly impact your body and long-term health. The early stages of alcohol-related liver disease typically have no symptoms. When they’re present, the early symptoms can include pain in the area of your liver, fatigue, and unexplained weight loss. Continued liver damage due to alcohol consumption can lead to the formation of scar tissue, which begins to replace healthy liver tissue.
Alcoholic fatty liver disease
Risk factors for easy bruising include older age and taking blood-thinning medications. Von Willebrand disease, the most prevalent bleeding disorder, affects about 1% of the population. A person with this condition has little or no von Willebrand protein, which is important for blood clotting. Synthetic hormone treatment can improve blood clotting in people with the condition. To find the cause of your bruising, your health care provider will likely do a physical exam and ask questions about your symptoms and medical history.
When to Worry About Bruises in Adults
If you’re ready to take the first step on your road to recovery, we’re here for you. Please book an appointment with us today, and let’s get you back to where you want to be. The bruises themselves aren’t dangerous, but the reason that causes them is. The bruises may also appear in https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/is-cannabidiol-addictive-the-effects-of-cbd/ unusual patterns or locations, such as on the trunk or back, where major impacts are less likely. This increased blood flow means more blood might escape the vessel if it ruptures. You’ll soon start receiving the latest Mayo Clinic health information you requested in your inbox.
Symptoms of alcoholic neuropathy
Some people — especially women — are more prone to bruising than others. As people get older, the skin becomes thinner and loses some of the protective fatty layer that helps cushion blood vessels from injury. Most bruises form when small blood vessels (capillaries) near the skin’s surface are broken by the impact of a blow or injury — often on the arms or legs.
What to know about alcoholic liver disease?
- Only a couple of drinks can cause vasodilation of blood vessels close to the skin, leading to potential bruising if you bump your body against a hard surface.
- However, nerve damage is sometimes permanent, and your symptoms are likely to worsen if you don’t stop drinking.
- Abstaining from drinking alcohol is the first step in treating ALD.
- You might look for a support group specifically for alcoholic neuropathy or for people coping with chronic pain.
From a glass of wine with dinner to a night out with friends or a celebratory toast, alcohol consumption is deeply ingrained in many social practices and cultural traditions worldwide. In the United States, over 84% of adults report drinking alcohol at least once in their lifetime. Some people with severe alcoholic hepatitis may need a liver transplant. Alcohol is a major contributing factor to liver disease, but the condition can also result from cancer and other health issues.
- Steroids and some cancer drugs (chemotherapy and targeted therapy) may also lower your platelet levels, which can cause you to bleed and get bruises more than you usually do.
- Mast cell activation syndrome also can occur, with related symptoms and conditions that include irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, allergic responses, and other variants.
- Synthetic versions of these clotting factors can help treat hemophilia and reduce the risk of serious bleeding and bruising.
- They may be visible in areas with less melanin, such as the forearms.
- Symptoms of alcohol-related neuropathy are similar to those of peripheral neuropathy.
Because denial is common, you may feel like you don’t have a problem with drinking. You might not recognize how much you drink or how many problems in your life are related to alcohol use. Listen to relatives, friends or co-workers when they ask you to examine your drinking habits or to seek help.
Additionally, heavy drinkers usually get most of their calories from alcohol. The problem is that alcohol is a wellspring of empty calories—which are calories with minimal nutritional value. Hence, consuming alcohol as your primary source of fuel will lead to poor nutrition and weight loss. 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 you could still tip the scale up from drinking too much alcohol.