Alcohol Flush Reaction: Does Drinking Alcohol Make Your Face Red? (2024)

FAQs

Alcohol Flush Reaction: Does Drinking Alcohol Make Your Face Red? ›

Some people who drink alcohol experience an unpleasant phenomenon called the alcohol flush reaction. The primary feature of the alcohol flush reaction is a red face—or flush—but it can also be accompanied by hives, nausea, low blood pressure, the worsening of asthma, or an episode of migraine.

If your face turns red after a couple glasses of wine, you're not alone. Many people experience facial flushing when they drink alcohol. The technical term for this condition is “alcohol flush reaction.” Most of the time, the flushing happens because you have trouble digesting alcohol completely.

What do people do about it? Some people who are alcohol intolerant take antihistamines – as you might take for hay fever or another allergy – before drinking alcohol. This can reduce the reddening and relieve any itching or rash, but it doesn't enable the body to get rid of the acetaldehyde more quickly or effectively.

In general, alcohol flush symptoms tend to last relatively short, but the precise timeframe can differ from person to person. Facial flushing, one of the primary symptoms of an alcohol flush reaction, typically occurs shortly after alcohol consumption and can last anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours.

Generally, symptoms of alcoholic liver disease include abdominal pain and tenderness, dry mouth and increased thirst, fatigue, jaundice (which is yellowing of the skin), loss of appetite, and nausea. Your skin may look abnormally dark or light. Your feet or hands may look red.

What do flushed cheeks indicate? A person can develop flushed cheeks for a variety of reasons, including acne, rosacea, reactions to foods and medications, eczema, lupus, sunburn, and drinking alcohol.

Rosacea sufferers can also have periods where symptoms reduce, if drinking is reduced [5]. However, if an alcoholic's red face is caused by broken capillaries and blood vessels, symptoms will not resolve completely, if at all, after a person stops drinking [8].

A sudden intolerance to alcohol is possible if you begin using a medication that causes alcohol intolerance or develop a disease that causes it. Most cases of suddenly developed alcohol intolerance occur due to starting a new medicine that causes it.

The most common sign of alcoholic hepatitis is yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes, called jaundice. The yellowing of the skin might be harder to see on Black and brown people. Other symptoms include: Loss of appetite.

Does alcohol flush get worse with age? ›

In addition, because the activity of this enzyme steadily decreases with aging, older people exhibit decreased alcoholysis and are more likely to display an alcohol flush.

It's often caused by feeling embarrassed, hot or anxious. Sometimes other symptoms you have might give you an idea of what's causing it. Some medicines can also cause blushing. Check the side effects of any medicine you're taking to see if blushing or flushing is listed.

Research suggests that drinking alcohol may increase a person's risk of getting rosacea. A study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology concluded that the women who drank alcohol had a higher risk of developing rosacea than the women who didn't drink.

Stage 1 is inflammation of your liver, caused by your immune system reacting to a foreign substance, like toxins. Chronic inflammation can lead to an enlarged liver. Inflammation can result from fatty liver, hepatitis, and other causes. Stage 2 is liver fibrosis or liver scarring, caused by chronic inflammation.

Any amount of alcohol can cause liver damage. Drinking more than two drinks per day consistently increases your risk of liver disease. However, the degree of liver damage varies greatly between individuals and there is no “safe” amount of alcohol to drink that cannot potentially cause liver disease.

Flushed skin occurs when the blood vessels just below the skin widen and fill with more blood. For most people, occasional flushing is not a cause for concern. It can result from being too hot, exercising, or emotional responses. Flushed skin can also be a side effect of drinking alcohol or taking certain medications.

People mistakenly believe anyone with a red face drinks heavily. While researchers have found that drinking alcohol may increase the risk of getting rosacea, it's important to know that: People who never drink alcohol can get rosacea. Alcoholism doesn't cause rosacea.