Does Addiction Affect Your Hair And Skin Health?

Does Addiction Affect Your Hair And Skin Health? – It doesn’t matter what kind of addiction you’re dealing with.

You are not focused on taking care of yourself when you are focused on feeding your addiction. A change in your appearance is the first symptom of addiction. This is one way for family members to notice that you may be battling addiction.

The medical alcohol detoxification facility Ascendant NY recognizes the impact of drugs on your skin and hair health, which is a primary reason you should check in with them if your or your loved ones are struggling with addiction.

Addiction’s Impact On Your Hair, Skin, Nail, And Teeth

Your teeth will be severely harmed. Many addicts simply forget to brush and floss their teeth as they should, resulting in deterioration and illness.

However, depending on how the drug or alcohol is ingested, certain drugs or alcohol can damage your teeth. In addition, because of the high acid content in bile, vomiting, which is often prevalent with addiction, can cause damage to your teeth and gums.

Your skin will be the most affected. It will become dry, and it will tear and bruise. You’ll notice wrinkles on it. This is because the person with the addiction is dehydrated and malnourished, causing most skin problems linked with addiction.

Malnutrition and dehydration will affect your hair and nails in the same way they affect your skin. Because your body is not in good health, your hair and nails might become exceedingly brittle, break easily, and even begin to fall out.

All of these diseases are frequently the first to manifest themselves as health issues. The longer you are addicted, the more harm you do to your body.

Your Hair’s Appearance Will Change Due To Drug Abuse

Addiction victims may not be getting the nutrients they need to look and feel their best because they continually put hazardous chemicals into their bodies. The same concept applies to hair.

Human hair requires specific nutrients to grow and stay healthy, but substance abuse can deplete these nutrients, resulting in noticeable damage.

Increased hair loss is one of the most common ways addiction affects hair. Drugs, particularly illegal drugs, can disrupt the hair cycle by luring follicles into premature rest or completely ceasing cell mitotic activity.

After frequent and long-term use, visible hair loss occurs.

Many drug users may find this not just undesirable on the surface, but it can also lead to mental concerns such as low confidence and self-esteem.

In severe circumstances, this could develop into depression, necessitating professional help. A solid outpatient addiction treatment program will also assist the recovering addict with these concerns.

Your Hair Will Notice Many Chemical Changes

There appear to be structural abnormalities in the hair of drug abusers underneath the surface as well.

The dangerous compounds can amass in the hair by numerous modes of administration at different periods of the hair’s growth cycle, no matter how illicit drugs remain supplied in the body. This assortment has the potential to harm their hair in the long run.

According to one study, the keratinized structure of cocaine users’ hair remain destroyed in 97.2% of those tested, and the exterior layer of the hair, known as the cuticle, remain similarly damaged in 95.8% of those tested.

According to this study, cocaine addiction has a number of harmful effects on hair. Cocaine isn’t the only drug that can harm your hair’s structure. Cuticle layers remain also damaged in 97.9% of LSD users. It’s no surprise that drug users experience severe physical changes in their hair due to this harm to the hair’s structure.

Methamphetamine And Heroin Impacts The Skin

Chronic meth users may develop skin sores as a result of picking at the skin, in addition to many other harmful consequences of the drug. For example, many meth addicts report feeling insects crawling on or under their skin.

As a result, they scratch at things that aren’t there, picking at their skin. Parasitosis, or “meth mites,” is the term for this.

They may also remain afflicted with dry skin and infections.

Those who inject heroin rather than smoke or snort have the most visible skin effects.

Venous sclerosis, often known as track marks, is a scarring of the veins caused by repeated skin penetration when looking for a vein. Unfortunately, venous sclerosis can also lead to skin infections, abscesses, and cellulitis, among other complications, and no amount of skincare products will be able to make up for that loss.

Alcohol’s Impact On The Skin

Alcohol abuse is well known to put a lot of strain on the liver and can even lead to cirrhosis, a life-threatening disease caused by scar tissue buildup in the liver.

However, alcoholic liver damage might manifest itself in the form of skin disorders.

Spider angioma is one of the most prevalent. In addition, lacy red spots that form on the hands, face, neck, or torso are thought to remain caused in part by alcohol-induced vasodilation.

Another disfiguring skin disorder is caput medusa, often known as palm tree sign, which causes enlarged and bulging veins to form around the navel and extend across the abdomen. This is a sign of serious liver disease.

How To Get Rid Of These Negative Impacts Of Drug Abuse?

Stopping the abuse of these substances is one of the greatest strategies to prevent additional hair and skin damage and cure some of the harmful consequences.

Toxins will remain drained from the body over time, including from the hair, and hair will begin to sprout normally.

In severe circumstances, users should seek the advice of a hair loss professional. You can also consult a skin specialist, and with time, maybe those red marks or bruises will also disappear.

Wrap Up

Stopping drug or alcohol usage may seem like a straightforward answer, but it’s often tougher said than done.

Most addiction victims struggle to overcome their addiction on their own, which is where our Ascendant NY’s treatment programs come in.

They work with patients to help them overcome their addictions and improve their overall quality of life. So, if you want more information on them, get in touch with us below.