Does Alcohol Age Your Face – Can drinking make you look older?
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As you may know, I was a daily heavy drinker for over twenty years, I would sink between one and three bottles of red wine every evening often washed down with beer or spirits. The only occasions where I didn’t drink were the times when I was laid up in bed with the flu or when I was in a situation where it was literally impossible to get my hands on my booze.
During the time I was drinking I didn’t pay attention to the effect that alcohol was having on my face and skin. All I cared about was drinking, not what the alcohol might be doing to me, I just ignored warnings about the dangers as they simply wanted to spoil my fun.
But as time went by (two decades in fact), my anxiety was sky rocketing and I couldn’t get myself into a place where I felt at peace and truly happy in my life. The more I searched for happiness, the more I kept coming back to my relationship with alcohol and how it might be impacting on me.
After a couple of particularly horrible hangovers which included my hands shaking uncontrollably at my desk while I was at work, I decided I need to make a change if I didn’t want to die before the age of 50. So I started to educate myself about what an alcohol-free life might look like, I started to read quit alcohol books and began learning the tactics and strategies to quit drinking successfully on my own.
Eventually I felt ready to try and leave alcohol behind me, it was tough, this was a habit I had carried with me for a very long time and it was a big change. I believed alcohol was what enabled me to have fun, to de-stress and to relax and suddenly I felt naked with just a tonic water and lime to see me through.
But after a few setbacks, several teary meltdowns and a little sprinkle of willpower I managed to get to a place where I felt like I didn’t want to drink again. I found freedom and I have never looked back.
Thankfully at the start, before I quit I had taken a few selfies, when I took these photos I thought I looked perfectly fine. But when I took another after 30 days alcohol-free I couldn’t believe the difference.
- My eyes no longer had darkness underneath them.
- My face was no longer bloated.
- The redness on my skin had faded.
- My skin looked ‘glowing’ – well a couple of people told me it did.
- My eyes seemed brighter and more alive.
So if all this had changed on the outside, imagine what must be going on inside my body?
Watch the video below where I talk about my own experience and answer the question – Does alcohol age your face?
