Making the decision to quit alcohol for good will provide your life and your health with many benefits. Alcohol can cause a lot of damage to an individual’s liver, heart, brain, sleep, weight, and much more. Luckily, once you quit drinking alcohol, many of these damages can become reversed. Keep reading to learn more about how to repair the damage done by alcohol and the answers to some of the most popular related questions.
Can You Reverse Damage Caused By Alcohol?
The more alcohol an individual drinks, the more difficult it is for the body to process. The liver and other functions work in overdrive to filter the alcohol, however, it can only do so much at a time. This is what leads to the many health conditions that stem from alcohol abuse. Some of these include:
- Liver disease
- Pancreatitis
- Cancer
- Ulcers
- Gastrointestinal issues
Will My Body Repair Itself If I Stop Drinking Alcohol?
Luckily, your body begins to heal from the damage done by alcohol after you quit drinking. Some of the many benefits you can look forward to include:
- Better sleep
- Better skin
- Healthier weight
- Clearer mental health
- Lowered risk of cancer and cardiovascular issues
- Better memory and thought processes
- Enhanced immunity and nutrition
- Reversal of some alcohol-related conditions, such as fatty liver
How Long Does It Take For Your Body To Heal From Alcohol?
When you drink alcohol and stop cold turkey to become sober, you will experience withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms of alcohol withdrawal can be debilitating, uncomfortable, may require a hospital stay, and could also be life-threatening.
Most withdrawal symptoms begin to occur within 6 hours after the last drink, worsen within 24 hours, and peak at 48-72 hours. Many moderate-to-severe withdrawal symptoms can last for weeks, or even a month.
Alcohol is dehydrating and can lead to malnutrition. Once sober, it should be the main focus of the individual (aside from therapy for behavioral and emotional conditions related to their alcoholism) to focus on rehydrating the body and providing themselves with proper nutrients.
How Long Does It Take For Your Brain To Recover From Alcohol?
Alcohol may cause brain damage. Some of the damage done by alcohol that can affect the brain includes:
- Shrinkage of brain matter
- Cognitive impairment
- Behavioral control
Once an individual becomes sober from alcohol, the brain is able to repair itself by generating new brain cells. A study looking at the emergence of new brain cells after abstinence from alcohol found that there were bursts of new cell development in the hippocampus at 48 hours after abstinence. Then there was another burst in the hippocampus and regions of another part of the brain, the cortex, at seven days of being alcohol-free.
What Happens If You Drink Alcohol Every Day?
The more an individual drinks alcohol, the more damage is done by alcohol. If you drink alcohol everyday, your body isn’t allowed the proper amount of time to heal from the last drinking session, which will make your body’s condition worsen day after day.
Cardiovascular issues, gastrointestinal problems, mental health conditions, sleep quality, brain function, and personal issues such as relationships and issues at work will all worsen with each passing day of drinking alcohol.
What Happens After 7 Days Of Not Drinking?
- First day: Within the first 24 hours of your last drink, you will start to feel withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal from alcohol can be life-threatening, making it extremely important to experience medicated-assisted detox.
- Within 72 hours: Withdrawal symptoms are at their peak, and most people will generally begin to feel better 72 hours after the last drink.
- Within 5-7 days: You will notice that your sleep is more restful, your energy levels are up, your mind is clearer and more aware, and your skin is less red and more hydrated.
How Long Until Your Liver Recovers From Alcohol?
Depending on the length and severity of your addiction to alcohol, your liver may be able to recover from alcohol-induced issues. Alcohol causes cells in the liver to die, which becomes replaced with scar tissue. Over time, too much scar tissue will cause the liver to not function properly, or at all, leading to liver failure.
However, with early intervention, this can be avoided. The liver is self-healing, much like the skin is, and liver function will improve by 15% within the first month of drinking and becoming almost fully functioning within a few months to a year of sobriety.
About Seasons in Malibu
With early intervention, you can repair much — if not all — of the damage done by alcohol. The alcohol rehab programs at Seasons In Malibu start with detox and carry through to aftercare. The alcohol treatment centers on our philosophy of systemic treatment.
Upon arrival at Seasons alcohol rehab programs, you will be seen immediately by an MD that specializes in addiction medicine and alcohol detox with many years of experience in this process and they will carefully assess your risk and closely monitor your detox process. Within a week, you will very likely be feeling better than you have since you started drinking. Your body will no longer be required to process the extraordinary amount of toxins that it has been and you will begin to recover the sharpness of mind and bodily energy that you may have lost to your drinking.
With our superior team of clinicians, we are able to succinctly pinpoint those areas of focus that will give the client the most advanced opportunity for success. Our approach towards healing is collaborative, comprehensive, and committed.
