Author: Alex Thompson

What Is An Alcoholic Nose Or Drinker’s Nose Rhinophyma?

Alcohol can cause liver disease and kidney problems as well as increase your risk of cancer, heart attack and stroke. Using alcohol heavily, especially over a long period of time, can have a devastating effect on your health. Like rhinophyma, rosacea can affect anyone including those individuals who have darker skin as well as children and teens. However, irregularities in the circulatory and vascular system could contribute to the issue. With that in mind, there are some instances where drinking alcohol frequently could lead to rhinophyma symptoms. Rosacea can often appear on the outside to be an acne outbreak or natural coloring on the cheeks.

1. After treatment, we will work with you to ensure a smooth transition to less intensive, supplementary levels of care.
2. If you’re concerned that you or someone you know is drinking too much alcohol, Georgetown Behavioral Hospital near Cincinnati, Ohio can help.
3. “Rhinophyma” is the medical term for “drinker’s nose”, which is a side effect of the skin condition rosacea.
4. Rosacea also causes an increased number of pimples and poorer skin quality.
5. Learn more about drinker’s nose and if drinking alcohol can affect the features of the face.

The condition is understood and treated as a condition that is totally separate from alcohol use disorder. An alcoholic nose is not a true diagnosis of alcoholism or even a sign of it in many cases. As stated earlier, the medical definition of an alcoholic nose is rhinophyma. For more advanced forms of rhinophyma, the most effective way to manage thickened skin is almost exclusively through physically removing excess tissue. Sometimes, this can include relying on ablative lasers or electrical currents (a treatment known as diathermy) to help remove excess tissue. Drinking alcohol has been debunked by research as a direct link to this condition.

Notably, it should not be assumed that someone with this condition suffers from alcohol use disorder. What is commonly called “alcoholic nose” is actually a skin condition called rhinophyma (Greek for “nose growth”). Rhinophyma is in a category of skin conditions known as rosacea, which causes chronic inflammation of the skin.

Why Do Alcoholics Get Red Noses?

Rosacea is a separate disease and disorder from alcoholism and has no connecting cause. Someone with alcoholism does not necessarily need to have rosacea to be an alcoholic. The helpline at AddictionResource.net is available 24/7 to discuss the treatment needs of yourself or a loved one. This helpline is answered by Ark Behavioral Health, an addiction treatment provider with treatment facilities in Massachusetts and Ohio. However, these treatment methods have not been effective for reducing swelling or the appearance of bumps on the nose from rhinophyma. Below are some of the most common physical indications that you or a loved one may have alcoholic nose.

An alcoholic nose, often called a whiskey nose, drinker’s nose, gin nose, or gin blossom nose, is a common way to refer to a large purple-tinted nose. However, there is a lot of urban legend surrounding alcoholics’ noses. The term “alcoholic nose” has an interesting history and an even more interesting scientific explanation. Of course, avoiding alcohol isn’t always easy—especially for long-term drinkers.

“Alcoholic nose” is a term given to the medical condition rhinophyma when it’s thought to be caused by alcohol use. We are dedicated to transforming the despair of addiction into a purposeful life of confidence, self-respect and happiness. We want to give recovering addicts the tools to return to the outside world completely substance-free and successful. A flare-up of rosacea symptoms can be triggered by the consumption of many different foods and drinks, including alcohol. While women can be diagnosed with the condition, it is found much more commonly in men.

How Is Alcoholic Nose Treated?

This chronic inflammation is caused by broken blood vessels and sores on or around the nose, causing it to appear red, swollen, and bumpy. “Rhinophyma” is the medical term for “drinker’s nose”, which is a side effect of the skin condition rosacea. Contrary to popular belief, a “drinker’s nose” is not necessarily caused by alcohol addiction or abuse. Please read on to learn all you need about alcoholic nose and the connection between alcohol addiction and skin conditions. Rhinophyma — also sometimes referred to as “alcoholic nose” — is a physical condition that many people assume is caused by alcohol use disorder (alcoholism).

As part of rosacea, small, red, and pus-filled bumps might also form on the face. Surgical treatment can remove tissue overgrowth, reshape disfigured noses, and minimize the appearance of enlarged blood vessels. It may be completed with a scalpel, laser resurfacing, dermabrasion, or via cryosurgery. So, alcohol may not be the primary cause of “alcoholic nose.” However, it does cause red, inflamed skin and can trigger rosacea and rhinophyma. Rosacea is not caused by alcoholism, but alcohol abuse can affect rosacea, which may worsen the appearance of a drinker’s nose.

If you live in Brooksville, Florida and need professional addiction treatment to help you stop drinking alcohol, Springbrook Behavioral Hospital can help. We are a mental health rehab center that specializes in supporting adults with co-occurring disorders, including alcohol use disorder. While “alcoholic nose” is not a medical condition requiring treatment, rhinophyma can be treated. The main treatment option for rhinophyma is surgery; however, there are some medications that may provide a small degree of help.

This common name and years of misinformation from the medical community about the condition prompted a false link between alcohol abuse and alcoholic nose. The most common side effect of rosacea in people who drink is flushed skin. With time, rosacea can worsen, and for people who drink alcohol heavily, this can mean developing rhinophyma. If you’re worried about alcohol consumption leading to drinker’s nose or rhinophyma, you may also show signs of alcohol abuse. That being said, there may be some slight truth to the idea that drinking alcohol can contribute to the development of rhinophyma.

Treatment for Alcoholism & Mental Health in Ohio

For starters, communicate with close friends and family about your situation. Entrust your addiction with people who love and care about you and want to see you happy. Tell them about your struggles and how your alcoholism is agitating your rosacea. However, it is very important to note that rosacea and rhinophyma can be agitated by things other than alcohol. Stress, sleeplessness, dehydration, depression, improper diet, dry skin, and many other factors can agitate rosacea and rhinophyma.

There are many different surgical options that use plastic surgery techniques. Drinking can increase the effects of existing rosacea and may increase the risk of this condition developing. However, many people who use alcohol heavily do not develop rosacea, and rosacea does often occur in people who do not drink alcohol or only use it in moderation. A spreading redness could move across the cheeks, nose, and other areas with blood vessels close to the skin. As discussed above, rosacea can be a main contributing factor to redness and flushing of the cheeks. To understand how rosacea can lead to rhinophyma, it’s important to understand what rosacea is, its symptoms, and how it develops.

Alcoholic Nose And Rosacea

Because drinking alcohol has been found to make rosacea worse in some people, it may also contribute to worsening the symptoms of rhinophyma. In the past, and even in modern times, rhinophyma was largely considered to be a side-effect of alcoholism or alcohol use disorder. Someone who has a bulbous, swollen red nose may suffer from incorrect judgments and assumptions about their character and substance use habits. If a person suffering from rosacea also has rhinophyma, the flushing in the face due to alcohol can increase the visibility of their rosacea and rhinophyma symptoms. That means someone drinking heavily may show flushed cheeks and an enlarged nose with a red or purple tint if they have rosacea.

It is important to emphasize that at the end of the day, alcoholic nose doesn’t really have much to do with alcohol at all. “Alcoholic nose,” or drinker’s nose, is a skin condition commonly identified by a red, bumpy, or swollen appearance of the nose and cheeks. It’s hard to say when exactly this condition became linked with heavy alcohol use, but stereotypes in popular media have kept this connection alive.