Rest, rehab and patience are cornerstones of injury recovery. But should quitting alcohol be a part of any recovery plan? This is what England cricket captain Ben Stokes has done – saying he’s given up alcohol in a bid to quickly recover from a serious hamstring injury.
While this may seem extreme, emerging research shows that even small amounts of alcohol can interrupt recovery and delay healing in five key ways:
1. Disrupting immune function
Alcohol disrupts immune cells’ ability to reach and repair injured tissues – slowing the regeneration of healthy muscle, tendons and ligaments. This delays the clean-up of damaged cells and also prolongs swelling and sensitivity, which further delays the process of repair.
The effect of heavy drinking (more than four or five drinks at one time) on the immune system can leave your body vulnerable to infection and delay repair for between three to five days afterwards. Even moderate drinking (one to three drinks at one time) stalls tissue regeneration and prolongs swelling and tenderness in the injured area.
2. Interfering with muscle rebuilding
Muscle protein synthesis – the process of repairing and rebuilding muscle – is reduced for 24 to 48 hours after even moderate alcohol consumption. In one study, muscle protein synthesis was shown to be reduced by 24-37% after drinking.
When this process is impaired, muscle regeneration slows. This results in persisting weakness, soreness and greater susceptibility to re-injury.
3. Delaying bone and tissue healing
When bones, ligaments, tendons and muscles are damaged, signals from these injured tissues trigger natural repair processes. But alcohol disrupts these signalling pathways and interferes with the body’s natural repair mechanisms, delaying healing and increasing swelling and scarring of the injured tissues.
Heavy drinking can prolong healing from a bone fracture by one to two weeks, and extend recovery from sprains and strains by two to three weeks.
4. Disrupting hormonal balance
Hormones are chemical messengers that coordinate many of the body’s recovery processes – including tissue repair, inflammation and muscle growth. Two especially helpful healing hormones are testosterone and growth hormone. Both help rebuild muscle and other connective tissues after injury.
Alcohol lowers circulating levels of these hormones and blunts the body’s ability to regenerate damaged tissues.
At the same time, alcohol raises cortisol levels. Cortisol is the body’s primary stress hormone. Elevated cortisol levels convince the brain that there’s an immediate threat. The brain subsequently seeks to mobilise available energy in preparation for a “fight” or “flight” response.
Spikes in cortisol increase energy availability by diverting energy away from other bodily functions – such as injury recovery. Cortisol also promotes the break down of healthy tissues (especially muscle) into simpler chemicals that can be rapidly converted to energy. These imbalances can persist for days after drinking and significantly slow tissue repair.
5. Increasing risks of re-injury
Clear communication between the brain and body is essential for smooth, precise and coordinated movement. But alcohol interferes with this communication.
As a result, coordination, balance and reaction times all plummet. The subtle movement impairments caused by even moderate drinking can linger for a couple of days afterwards. These increase the risk of movement errors and re-injury to the already vulnerable tissues.
Alcohol and injury recovery
Current research illustrates that there’s no safe threshold of alcohol consumption during rehabilitation. Even low-to-moderate drinking impairs athletic performance and injury recovery for a couple of days, depending on the dose, the person and the aspect of recovery being measured.
Binge drinking (periods of abstinence followed by consuming four or five drinks in one session) causes substantial short-term damage. Low-to-moderate drinking causes subtler disruptions, but these disruptions typically happen more frequently.
Stokes’ decision to abstain from alcohol is not an overreaction – it’s a clear-headed, evidence-led commitment to optimal recovery. As new evidence reshapes our understanding of alcohol’s multiple impacts, the message is simple: rehabilitation doesn’t happen in the pub.
Whether you’re a professional athlete, a recreational runner or an enthusiastic “weekend warrior”, every drink counts.
When returning from an injury, the less you drink, the better your chances of a complete recovery. If a rapid and complete recovery is your goal, then less is better, and none is best.
Deciding to drink alcohol during rehabilitation is a personal choice. But if healing is the priority, one of the simplest, most controllable ways to skew the odds in your favour is to follow Stokes’ lead and skip that drink.
John Kiely, Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, University of Limerick
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
