Drugs and Alcohol Hard On Your Health

Normal aches and strains of a slowly aging body are hard enough to deal with.  It gets a lot harder when you have an alcohol or drug addiction.  If you feel like you aren’t in good shape like you used to be, just imagine what your body feels like when it’s ravaged with toxic chemicals every day.

Skin and Teeth Suffer During a Drug Addiction

First, your skin tends to look much older sooner.  Meth is particularly bad for this.  It doesn’t take more than a few years of heavy use for a person’s skin to look fifteen to twenty years older than it really is.  Imagine being in your late twenties and looking like you are an unhealthy forty year old.  Alcohol also makes your skin wrinkle sooner and look flush from tiny broken blood vessels.  Even when a person quits drugs and alcohol, physical tissue damage like that can be difficult if not impossible to undo.

Your teeth also suffer when you have a drug or alcohol addiction.  The high sugar content in many alcoholic drinks can wear down your teeth enamel.  A person with an addiction is less likely to keep solid self care habits like regular brushing,  flossing, and healthy eating.  Alcohol and many illegal drugs also cause “dry
mouth”, which can increase the chance of tooth decay.  Meth and cocaine are particularly acidic, which can erode enamel quickly.  These problems eventually lead to unhealthy gums, cavities, and sometimes tooth loss.

Heart Problems and Tissue Damage More Likely With Drug Addiction

Stimulant drugs like cocaine and meth can lead to blood pressure problems.  In particular, cocaine causes many short periods of high blood pressure.  This increases the risk of an aneurysm, which is a balloon-like area of a weakened overstretched blood vessel.  Aneurysms increase the risk of heart attack or other
complications like internal bleeding or sudden death.

All of these health problems can occur without drug or alcohol addiction.  But when these chemicals poison the body on a regular basis, it wears it out and makes it more vulnerable to illness and tissue damage.  Drug rehab or alcohol treatment can stop the body from being assaulted by chemicals.  Becoming sober can allow some health problems to reverse and get better.

Drug And Alcohol Rehab Stops Damage To Body With Sobriety

When a person is experience this level of health problems, they are probably in way too deep to get sober on their own.  They need drug or alcohol rehab to develop a healthier lifestyle.  Rehab centers can help addicts learn how to eat healthy, treat their body well, and establish new habits.  Becoming sober at drug and alcohol rehab is the start of a better healthier life.