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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Skin Rashes And Sweating After Consuming Alcohol?

Hi I am from Asia, male and of age 34. My wt is 68kg and ht is 1.65m, with no known health problems.
My issue is my allergy reaction after drinking alcohol. I have rashes on my back, the rear of my arms, my torso and back of my neck. These rashes are small little red dots, and they are really painful when I sweat. Typically takes about a week before I get well.
I came across articles on miliaria and after seeing pictures and reading of symptoms, sounds exactly like what I have! So question is if miliaria can indeed by triggered by consuming alcohol? And if indeed so, can I conclude I am actually not allergic to alcohol, but merely that my skin was unable to handle the heat involved with drinking, or that my pores are clogged? I'd like to know that these rashes are limited to my skin and not a symptom of some bigger problems internal to the body. Lastly, please do advice if there is something I can do to prevent these rashes.. They are rally painful (like needles poking) when I sweat, which is really often here in hot and humid Singapore.

Thanks for all your kind advice.

Alex
Fri, 20 Mar 2015
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General & Family Physician 's  Response
Hi,
This reactions is known as alcohol flush reaction.

When we consume alcohol, it gets metabolised in body by liver enzymes into acetaldehyde and then into acetate.

Alcohol causes vasodilatation of small blood vessels and capillaries and some times bursts this capillaries under skin leaving behind broken capillaries and red spots.
Also,alcohol causes diuresis by suppressing vasopressin release from kidney leading to extra work to the kidney and by this water comes out in bladder leading to depletion of water in body leaves skin dry,rough and itchy.

This all is direct effect of alcohol in body when consumed in excess,you can consider it as a allergy.

The best way to cure allergy is avoidance of contact with allergen rather than taking antiallergic drugs like steroids or antihistamines.

Some people(commonly Chinese,Japanese)have inability to convert this excess acetaldehtde into acetate leading to accumulation of this acetaldehyde into blood causing blood vessels to dilate more.

And because of this,our skin turns red and slightly burning to touch till this substance clears from the blood by kidney.

Best treatment is to curtail this alcohol consumptions.
Thanks.
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What Causes Skin Rashes And Sweating After Consuming Alcohol?

Hi, This reactions is known as alcohol flush reaction. When we consume alcohol, it gets metabolised in body by liver enzymes into acetaldehyde and then into acetate. Alcohol causes vasodilatation of small blood vessels and capillaries and some times bursts this capillaries under skin leaving behind broken capillaries and red spots. Also,alcohol causes diuresis by suppressing vasopressin release from kidney leading to extra work to the kidney and by this water comes out in bladder leading to depletion of water in body leaves skin dry,rough and itchy. This all is direct effect of alcohol in body when consumed in excess,you can consider it as a allergy. The best way to cure allergy is avoidance of contact with allergen rather than taking antiallergic drugs like steroids or antihistamines. Some people(commonly Chinese,Japanese)have inability to convert this excess acetaldehtde into acetate leading to accumulation of this acetaldehyde into blood causing blood vessels to dilate more. And because of this,our skin turns red and slightly burning to touch till this substance clears from the blood by kidney. Best treatment is to curtail this alcohol consumptions. Thanks.