How Alcohol Affects The Skin and Causes Acne Breakouts

This probably isn’t news to the female audience reading this (hey ladies!), but I’m going to talk a little about how a heavy night of binge drinking can not only lead to bad (or good, depending on how you look at it) decisions but it can also lead to acne, zit and spot breakouts.

While Sobur pills can take care of the next day hangover (and perhaps help you plan a proper escape in the morning, following those afore-mentioned bad decisions), understanding how alcohol can affect your skin is a totally different ballgame.

Binge Drinking, Hormones and Your Pretty Mug

As we’ve explained in our FAQ, drinking alcohol depresses the immune system, and the immune system helps keep acne-causing bacteria under control. Disturbing this balance can cause more bacteria to remain on your skin, leading to a dreaded acne breakout.

Note: We get asked so many questions about alcohol and acne here at Sobur, that we decided to put together a comprehensive guide on what to drink and what not to drink in order to keep your skin healthy and stop acne breakouts! It’s available for download now…

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Heavy drinking also sends your hormones on a mini roller coaster ride. As you drink more, your body tries to convert the carbs in your beverage of choice, commonly leading to a spike in your blood sugar levels. Because you are pounding the pints faster then your body can process the extra carbs, it becomes unable to keep up which leads to a hormone imbalance. This imbalance is usually the cause of those ugly forehead pimples & spots that plague everyone who partied a little to hard the night before.

Alcoholic Beverages, Sugar Content & Acne

Too much sugar in the body/blood can cause inflammation at a cellular level. Often times, alcoholic beverages aren’t have a lot of added sugar in order to mask the taste of the alcohol (or to generally taste awesome!).

Depending on your bodies sensitivity to sugar levels and insulin, the process can go alcohol/sugar beverage -> inflammation -> acne breakout the next day. If you’re going to drink alcohol and don’t want acne breakouts, you’re going to want to stick to drinks with low sugar levels (or no sugar at all).

Stress Levels

Overuse (potentially abuse) of any drug, especially alcohol, can cause stress. Drinking too much, too often can really veer one’s life off course, and in severe cases can cause people to lose their jobs, friends, and family. If you are worried about your alcohol consumption getting out of hand, please find the necessary help, there are a lot of free resources available to help you!

Regardless, alcohol can be stress inducing. We know that stress and acne are closely related, so this is something to think about.

Acne Rosacea & Alcohol

Rosacea (pronounced roz-ay-sha) is a very common red looking skin condition that affects many people. Rosacea is estimated to affect at least 45 million people worldwide. Most sufferers of rosacea are Caucasian and have fair skin.

The main symptoms of rosacea include red or pink patches, visible tiny broken blood vessels, small red bumps, sometimes containing pus, red cysts, and pink or irritated eyes. Many people who have rosacea may just assume they blush or flush easily or are just very sun sensitive.

Areas of the skin affected by rosacea are sensitive to stimulants that cause vasodilation (opening of the capillaries). These stimulants include direct hot sunlight, hot temperatures, saunas, Hot drinks or foods and— you guessed it— alcohol.

There isn’t really a cure for rosacea, but treatments are available to control symptoms. It is a chronic and relapsing condition, which means there are periods when symptoms are particularly bad, followed by periods when the condition is less severe.

As well as going easy on known triggers like alcohol, certain medicines can help control flare ups. I reccomend checking out more official resources if you’re looking for information on treating rosacea.

Asian Flush

Asian flush or Asian glow, is an embarrassing skin reaction typical for about a third of people with East Asian heritage, occurring predominantly in individuals of Japanese, Chinese or Korean descent (a demographic that makes up approximately 8% of the world’s population).

“People who have [Asian Flush] will get a facial flush and a headache and will feel nauseous at the time they’re drinking. And it’s not just flushing. They’ll also get an increased heart rate. It’s a pretty unpleasant experience.” explains Philip J. Brooks, an investigator with the Division of Metabolism and Health Affects at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

Find out more about Asian flush, it symptoms, causes and cures here.

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TLDR; Be Kind To Your Liver

We all know that alcohol affects the liver. Our liver is responsible for flushing out toxins from our body. Making the liver overwork means, at some point, that it can’t function anymore. Toxic buildup leads to blemish and acne breakouts.

The lesson here is to stay hydrated, and always practice moderation with your drinking. While Sobur is here to help heal your hangover, it’s up to you to take care of yourself and your body. After all, maintaining a 100% ‘party hardy‘ body is going to take some effort!

Photo Credit: purpletwinkie cc