What is Alcohol Detox?
Alcohol detox is generally the first step in the alcohol rehabilitation process, and can often be one of the most difficult. When individuals have been drinking heavily for an extended period of time, whether they are teens or adults, they can have extremely adverse physical reactions if alcohol is in not their system for a few days. This is also known as alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome can be moderate to severe and is characterized by a condition known as Delirium tremens, which can cause extreme shaking, nausea, nervousness and anxiety. Delirium tremens can even become so severe that it can cause life-threatening seizures if not treated medically.
Whether you are a teen or young adult suffering from an alcohol abuse, the first step in your alcohol rehabilitation will be alcohol detox. Alcohol detox is the process of cleaning out all the alcohol from an individual’s system by using a variety of proven detox methods and medications. Alcohol detox is generally done at an inpatient or outpatient drug rehab facility where each patient can be monitored around the clock to make sure they are having no adverse effects from the medication. In addition to medical detox care, the patient will also receive some treatment and education about their own personal alcohol addiction. However, most of the addiction treatment is done after the detox process has been completed.
Alcohol Detox Side Effects
Even though the patient will be closely monitored throughout the entire alcohol detox process, there are various side effects they might encounter. These may include headache, body aches, nausea, and overall weakness and fatigue. They may also experience some slight alcohol withdrawal symptoms like shaking, tremors, stomach aches, sweaty and clammy skin. In some rare cases, some detox patients may experience convulsions and violent seizures which could be life-threatening if not properly treated by the medical staff. So when choosing an alcohol detox treatment center, make sure their treatment staff offers 24 hour monitoring during the detox process.
After Alcohol Detox
Once the alcohol detox process has been completed, the individual will continue receiving alcohol addiction treatment and counseling. It is important to remember, especially for teenagers, that alcohol detox is rarely enough to break an alcohol addiction. Alcohol detox is only the first step in the alcohol rehabilitation process and is rarely successful by itself at treating the complexities of an alcohol addiction.
