Alcohol for concussion increases cell damage, which can lead to serious consequences. Failure to comply with the prescribed treatment regimen can cause mental disorders, impaired motor function, decreased concentration and the development of dementia. After a concussion, headaches can last a lifetime. It is important to know that pain, nausea and coordination disorders increase many times over after a dose of alcohol.
Diagnosis: brain injury
Damage to brain tissue has specific manifestations that immediately affect your well-being. The conclusion about a concussion is made when there is a disruption in the functionality of the brain caused by injuries to the skull. In this case, even the presence of a wound is not at all necessary, and a strong blow without signs of external damage will be enough. Participation in a fight or an accidental fall often leads to similar results. Alcohol is especially harmful during a concussion; the consequences of its use will make treatment ineffective and can be fatal.
If you receive a head injury, you should consult a doctor immediately. It will not be difficult to make a preliminary diagnosis by analyzing the patient’s well-being. A concussion is accompanied by the following symptoms:
- the occurrence of nausea and gag reflexes;
- a sharp increase in blood pressure;
- rapid pulse and cardiac arrhythmia;
- intermittent and labored breathing.
Such disturbances in well-being are often noticeable even from the outside. In case of concussions, alcohol becomes especially dangerous and its use should be completely avoided. Ethanol has a damaging effect on blood vessels and aggravates the consequences of functional disorders. Deciding how much to drink after such an injury is quite simple. You should not drink alcohol even in small doses; perhaps this glass will be your last.
Brain injury and alcoholic beverages
Even after overcoming the acute period of concussion, the patient's condition improves only partially. Insomnia, dizziness, headaches and difficulty concentrating continue to make themselves felt for a long time. Drinking alcohol after a concussion is strictly prohibited . Alcohol consumption has symptoms similar to brain injury, and the combination of these processes can lead to irreversible health consequences.
If you have a brain injury, you should refrain from driving a car or climbing to heights on your own. Taking alcohol in any form is out of the question. Both strong and low-alcohol drinks should be excluded. Drinking alcohol will not only worsen your physical condition. Anxiety, depression or impaired mental abilities are just a few of the possible consequences. Alcohol in case of brain injury contributes to the development of vegetative-vascular dystonia, asthenic syndrome and epilepsy.
Risk factors for brain injuries
Drinking alcoholic beverages negatively affects the entire body. During intoxication, the vascular system and the brain are most injured. Tissue destruction occurs at the cellular level and has irreversible consequences . Any pathologist can accurately determine how much the deceased liked to drink. The brain of an alcoholic has a highly wrinkled structure and is different from the brain tissue of a non-drinker. Such signs of atrophy appear more and more over time, and drinkers rarely live to an advanced age.
Craving for alcohol often becomes the cause of senile dementia, which manifests itself long before old age. In such people, brain vessels atrophy , which leads to distorted perception and difficulties with logical thinking. Alcohol after a concussion, instead of tissue regeneration, accelerates their degradation. The consequences of drinking alcohol are difficult to predict, and its effect can easily cancel out all the results of treatment.
Nerve cells are destroyed under the influence of alcohol, which also leads to irreversible consequences. Severe intoxication with poisons causes their degradation and death . All organs suffer from poisoning by ethanol breakdown products. Brain tissue is especially susceptible to toxic effects, and over time, such consequences become irreversible. If you drink alcohol frequently, you should not expect the body to recover quickly. In this case, the recovery processes will be inhibited by the destructive influence of alcohol.
After an injury, when can you drink alcohol?
A head injury is always unpredictable, because serious consequences can overtake a person even after a few years. There is an opinion that if you have a mild concussion, you can indulge in some alcohol after leaving the hospital. But it’s better not to do this; doctors recommend postponing drinking alcohol for at least six months. Moreover, most often during this period, medications are prescribed that help restore the normal functioning of brain structures, and, as you know, it is better not to combine them with alcohol.
It's better to completely eliminate alcohol from your life.
It would be ideal if, after a head injury, a person completely eliminates alcohol from his life, because there is a risk that ethanol will negatively affect brain cells and cause serious complications.
The effect of alcohol on the brain
With injuries of this kind, rest and the absence of stress factors are necessary. Ethanol alcohol weakens the functionality of the brain and causes disturbances in the central nervous system. Such risk factors are unacceptable, and it is necessary to exclude any possibility of improving the patient’s condition by drinking. Alcohol after a concussion can not only cause headaches and dizziness, but also cause tremors, psychosis or paranoia.
When there is a high ethanol content in the blood, red blood cells adhere to each other. Such destructive processes cause the destruction of blood vessels. The sticking of red blood cells leads to the formation of blood clots, which completely or partially block the blood supply to the cells. The intensity of such processes depends on the amount of ethanol in the blood and continues throughout the entire period of intoxication. Such processes cause tissue death. Even with moderate alcohol consumption, after 7-12 years, mental impairment .
The effects of alcohol are extremely harmful for both light drinkers and lovers of strong drinks. A cranial concussion requires rest , and ethanol is counterproductive in treatment. Deciding whether you can drink alcohol if you have a concussion is quite simple. In case of such injuries, there is a strict ban on the use of alcohol, which is justified by its destructive effect on the blood vessels of the brain. Drinking alcoholic beverages contributes to the development of serious pathologies that are practically untreatable.
Treatment
The goal of therapeutic therapy is primarily aimed at stabilizing cerebral circulation, as well as improving the general well-being of the patient.
In the first case, drugs are prescribed to improve the tone and nutrition of cerebral vessels, as well as diuretics. The selection of drugs directly depends on the severity of the injury and the presence of complications.
Stabilization of the condition is based on the elimination of symptoms such as dizziness, anxiety, headaches, insomnia, etc. In this case, sedatives, painkillers, and sometimes sleeping pills are used.
Folk remedies have proven themselves well as auxiliary in the treatment of injury. But they should be taken only after consultation with a specialist: otherwise, you can get the opposite result.
In practice, soothing infusions from herbs such as Ivan tea, lemon balm, valerian root and other herbs are successfully used. They have a sedative effect.
This treatment has not worked very well. But still, some herbs have a beneficial effect on the nervous system. Folk remedies approved by doctors that help improve the patient’s condition and promote a speedy recovery include teas made from the herbs of lemon balm, fireweed, valerian roots, and eleutherococcus. They have a sedative effect on the body.
There are many other herbs, herbal infusions, and other forms of use that can help speed up the healing process after injury. Some, for example, recommend that during rehabilitation after a concussion, replacing a regular pillow with one that contains soothing herbs, for example, clover, mint.
But we must remember: traditional methods of treatment can be advisable only after the approval of the attending physician.
In the case where SHM is the main diagnosis, and the rest is soft tissue bruises, then the concussion is treated at home. In some conditions, hospitalization is required, at least for 1 - 2 days for dynamic observation. For example, this may include the following indications:
- additional injuries, for example, bone fractures, bruises of internal organs;
- unclear clinical picture, the possibility of complications;
- suspicion of a hematoma inside the cranial cavity;
- severe concomitant diseases (diabetes mellitus, unstable angina);
- the appearance of convulsive seizures after traumatic brain injury.
With these and some similar conditions, as well as pregnancy, hospitalization is possible. In other cases, a mild concussion requires treatment at home, where, as they say, “walls help.” What should the patient and his relatives do?
The diagnosis of FBS is made in cases of mild brain injury. But what to do if there is no specialist nearby? First aid for a concussion does not cause difficulties, so household members or people around the victim are quite capable of providing it on their own.
Treatment involves keeping the adult patient in a hospital bed for 10 to 21 days, depending on the extent of the injury. For a child, treatment time is usually extended to 30 days. When a concussion occurs, a person does not tolerate external stimuli well, such as light or loud noise, so he should constantly remain calm.
Experienced specialists must monitor the victim’s condition, so it will be better if he is admitted to a hospital.
But if, after an examination, doctors allowed the victim to be treated at home, it is necessary to protect him from devices that create noise (TV, radio, computer). He is also categorically not recommended to engage in reading and physical activity.
In this case, bed rest must be observed. Nothing should interfere with peaceful rest and long sleep. It is also recommended to take sedatives and herbal infusions with the permission of a doctor. In addition, it is necessary to follow a plant-based diet with no salt.
After such an incident, precautions should not be neglected. First of all, you should avoid traumatic situations, protect your head, wear a helmet when riding a bicycle or scooter, follow safety measures in cars and in the house, arrange furniture in such a way that there is no possibility of hitting or tripping.
Should you drink if you have a concussion?
The presence of alcohol in the blood disrupts the functioning of the brain even in a healthy person. The symptoms of a concussion correspond to signs of intoxication, which indicates some similarity in abnormalities in brain activity. Even a mild form of concussion makes a person more sensitive to the effects of ethanol. In this case, there is rapid intoxication, loss of coordination and a sharp deterioration in well-being . Severe brain injuries may also cause hallucinations.
With a concussion, the effect of alcohol on mental state also increases. Hysteria and irritability arise, and the sick person is not always fully aware of his actions. In medical practice, there are many examples when even a small dose of alcohol became the cause of delirium tremens or other mental disorders. increases the risk of epileptic seizures several times Even the slightest dose of alcohol should be completely avoided until complete rehabilitation.
Drinking alcohol during a concussion causes an acute headache, which will be no less than from the injury. With such pathologies, swelling of the brain occurs and it will take even more time to restore its normal functioning. The consequences of drinking alcohol during a concussion can lead to loss of consciousness, stroke or coma. Acute dependence on alcohol cannot be the reason for even a small dose.
conclusions
A concussion is extremely dangerous to your health and the consequences of this injury can be felt throughout your life. Treatment of such functional disorders often requires a long rehabilitation period, during which any alcohol-containing drinks are excluded. If a concussion occurs, is it possible to drink alcohol? You shouldn’t even ask. Medicine does not allow such treatment even for mild cases of this disease.
Drinking alcohol will not help relieve a concussion and will only complicate treatment. Head injuries are especially dangerous because they have unpredictable consequences and any risk factors should be excluded . Proper treatment will not only help you quickly go through the rehabilitation period, but will also reduce the craving for alcohol in the drinker. It is extremely important to exclude complications in the treatment of head injuries, and giving up alcohol will be the right decision.
When can you drink alcohol after a concussion?
However, when can you return to your normal lifestyle and drink alcohol again without fear of such serious consequences? This is a dangerous injury - a concussion; whether alcohol can be taken and when it can be taken should be checked with your doctor. There is an opinion that this can be done after a couple of weeks, immediately after discharge, if the concussion is not severe. However, it is worth cautioning against this possibility - even after a mild concussion, you should postpone drinking alcohol for at least six months. Moreover, during this period you will still be prescribed medications incompatible with alcohol that will restore brain activity.
Ideally, it is better to give up alcohol completely and forever, because the effects of ethanol on already damaged brain structures can have an extremely negative effect. Even if a person does not drink alcohol, after a traumatic brain injury he may be haunted for years by increased weather sensitivity, convulsions, depression and increased anxiety, as well as sleep problems and dystonia of a vegetative nature. The brain and nervous system do not always fully return to their healthy functioning, and alcohol causes them additional and very significant damage.
