Stomach pain after alcohol

Alcohol is a popular intoxicant, the consumption of which can cause many different consequences in the human body. It is a chemical substance that is metabolized very quickly in the body and in the course of the metabolism forms intermediate products that are harmful to a large number of tissues in the body. Basically, a distinction must be made between chronic alcohol abuse and stomach pain after a single consumption of alcohol.

If pain occurs after a single consumption of alcohol, there is usually no serious illness behind it.Alcohol can irritate the mucous membranes in the oesophagus and stomach, and through this mechanism can cause stomach pain and nausea. It is possible that the irritation of the mucous membranes may cause stomach pain for hours after consumption of the alcohol and only disappear after some time. During this time the stomach should be protected, no further alcohol should be drunk and only food that is easy on the stomach should be eaten.

The chronic abuse of alcohol can cause a number of different changes in the body, which can be responsible for the stomach pain. Alcohol leads to a so-called gastritis in the stomach. Alcohol is responsible for a number of changes in the mucous membrane of the stomach such as swelling of the mucous membrane, bleeding, death of the mucous membrane cells and an inflammatory reaction of the stomach cells.

Together with an increased production of gastric acid, this greatly increases the risk of developing stomach ulcers. Thus, stomach pain after excessive alcohol consumption could possibly be explained by an existing stomach ulcer. The special form of gastritis, a hemorrhagic gastritis, which can result from the chronic consumption of alcohol, can become life-threatening when bleeding occurs, in which several liters of blood can be lost within minutes.

Alcohol-induced hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver, can also cause pain in the stomach. Digestive problems caused by excessive alcohol consumption are often associated with acute pancreatitis, which also causes severe pain. The cause of this clinical picture is stone formation, which is triggered by the consumption of alcohol and blocks the pancreatic ducts.