Does your face get very red when you drink? There are two primary reasons that someone’s face and cheeks when get red when they drink. Let’s go over those two things right now, and then there’s something else that we would like to discuss very briefly.
Red Cheeks from Rosacea and Alcohol
Rosacea is a pretty common skin condition that can cause your face to turn red when you drink. Drinking isn’t the only thing that can cause a person with rosacea to turn red in the face, however. Other causes are things like coffee and tea, eating chocolate, certain types of foods, and more.
There are even some people with rosacea that don’t drink, ever, but that sometimes look like they have been drinking when their faces go flush (flush is another word for turning red).
In severe cases, a doctor may prescribe you an oral treatment for rosacea. Sometimes, people will use various skin care treatments to try to help their rosacea.
Generally speaking, it’s harmless, and it’s not something to worry about unless looking like you’ve been drinking is having negative consequences in your life.
Red Cheeks from Enzyme Deficiency and Alcohol
Another cause of the face going flush, or getting red cheeks, is a deficiency in a particular enzyme. The alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme is responsible for helping to process the alcohol in your body by breaking it down. When the alcohol isn’t being processed properly, it can irritate the cells of the face, since it’s toxic to them.
This can affect some people a lot more than others, and that can be impacted by the enzyme levels that people have, thus their ability to breakdown alcohol in the body to prevent it from irritating the cells in the face. That’s the link between enzyme deficiency and alcohol, and how it shows itself.
Do red cheeks make it hard for you to hide when you’ve been drinking?
Do you find yourself drinking often, or at times that you feel ashamed? Or just times where you wouldn’t want anyone else around you to know that you’ve been drinking?
It’s not a bad idea to ask yourself why this is a concern. If you’re trying to hide the fact that you’re drinking, this could be a sign that you are struggling with alcohol, and we sincerely want you to know that the best thing to start thinking about this is… as soon as possible. The longer you wait to consider your drinking habits, the harder it will be to dig yourself out of a problem.
See: Do I need to stop drinking?
Drinking is very common and very socially acceptable in the correct contexts, so if you find yourself drinking in the incorrect contexts, it might not hurt to ask why.
We’re not here to lecture you! If this doesn’t apply to you, just carry along with your day after learning a little more about cheeks turning red when you drink. But if you think there might be some morsel that you can relate to here, that maybe the reason you’re concerned about hiding your drinking is because you’re doing it a little too often, then we invite you to take a look around the rest of this site.
Please, go at your own pace, and just keep an open mind in case you can relate to anything that you see here in regards to alcoholism or having a drinking problem.
