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How to Get Alcohol Out of your System

9 Minutes

Edited & medically reviewed by THE BALANCE Team

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CONTENTS

While consuming alcohol can be temporarily enjoyable for many, having it in your body time doesn’t remain fun for long. Too much alcohol can quickly intoxicate a person, and the resultant hangover can be excruciating and uncomfortable. If you frequently indulge in binge drinking to the point of feeling sick and intoxicated, you have probably wondered about the fastest way to get alcohol out of your urine to cleanse the body.

The fact is, there is no cut-and-dry remedy to flush alcohol out of your system more quickly than its normal speed. However, there are ways to manage intoxication symptoms and help quit the habit if it interferes with your life too much. Suppose you take proper care and follow the suggested practices. In that case, the symptoms will subside eventually, allowing you to feel like yourself once again.

Because the blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) may vary depending on the user, situations, and the type of drinks being used, the time taken for its effects to subside can tremendously vary. How long you experience the effects of alcohol also differs depending on the type of substance. A general timeline in this regard is given below:

A shot of liquor — 1 hour
A glass of wine — 3 hours
A pint of beer — 2 hours

Even if effects wear off, it is still possible to detect alcohol in the system through different types of drug testing.

Blood Tests: Up to 6 Hours

Approximately 20 per cent of alcohol coming from a single drink goes straight into the blood vessels. The remainder enters the small intestine, from where it moves to the bloodstream. Eventually, it gets processed and is flushed out through the liver.

Urine Tests: From 12 to 72 Hours

Older methods of urine analysis were able to detect the traces of alcohol for up to 24 hours. However, with the newer, more advanced techniques, ethanol metabolites can be picked up from urine even after 72 hours of consumption.

Breathalysers: 12 to 24 Hours

Because alcohol metabolises comparatively quickly, a saliva test or a breathalyser is usually used to confirm an event of recent drinking. These tests are typically used by police offers or addiction rehabs in an outpatient setting to ensure that patients are practising abstinence.

Hair Analysis: Up to 3 Months

On average, alcohol remains in the hair strands for up to three months after the last drink.

If you have only had a couple of drinks and are looking for methods to perform quick alcohol cleanse on your own, the following tips may help:

Sleep in

If you have not reached full intoxication yet, sleeping in for the night can help your body go back to normal by excreting alcohol as you rest.

Drink water and other fluids

Alcohol often causes dehydration which eventually leads to headaches and lethargy. Keeping your hydration level up by drinking enough water can help your body recover soon.

Have a meal

Consumption of alcohol is associated with low blood sugar and consequent crashes. Hence, it is important to balance these effects by eating food. If a proper meal makes you nauseous, try some rice or crackers until the body can process heavier food items.

Get some exercise

While completing an aerobics class under alcohol intoxication is impossible, try your best to sweat. You can also consider deep breathing to ramp up your oxygen levels and release toxins. These effects ultimately help the liver filter out alcohol from your system more easily.

While you might be able to flush the alcohol out of your system after a single episode of binge drinking, these are merely short-term solutions, especially if you suffer from an alcohol abuse disorder. In such a case, speaking with an addiction treatment specialist as soon as possible is the best solution to begin recovery. These professionals are trained to assess each individual case and choose from the following programmes to initiate recovery:

Alcohol Detox Programmes

Many people addicted to alcohol try quitting on their own but fail because of the severe withdrawal side effects that follow. For such people, enrolling in a detox programme is advised to get alcohol out of the system without putting their comfort and safety at stake. A detox may take place, inpatient or outpatient, depending on the severity of the addiction. The length of this process varies depending on:

How long you have been drinking
How much you drink in one sitting
Family history of alcohol abuse
Number of past attempts to self-detox

Inpatient Programmes

These programmes are conducted in a temptation-free environment and are best for people who are unable to quit on their own due to too many distractions in their homes. In this case, patients check into specified accommodations, live there under 24/7 supervision, attend therapy, and slowly recover.

Outpatient Programmes

An outpatient programme works best for people with milder alcohol addiction to aim for recovery. This type of programme offers more flexibility as clients are able to maintain their regular life and continue with everyday activities and responsibilities while getting therapy.

Medication-assisted Programs

Some chronic alcohol abusers may develop highly uncomfortable and potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms as they attempt to quit alcohol abuse. To prevent these symptoms from causing any damage, physicians sometimes prescribe medications. Medications are also given to alcohol addicts with a concurring mental health illness to ensure a smooth detox without any hiccups.

Individual Therapy

In addition to detoxing, tackling alcohol addiction requires therapy. Through regular therapy with an expert, addicts can understand the cause behind their addictive behaviours and work on fixing them.

Group Therapy

Group therapy aims to build a healthy, sober support team to speed up recovery and ensure long-term abstinence.

If you are experiencing alcohol intoxication and hangovers too often, you might consider seeking help for alcohol addiction. Alcohol addiction is a sneaky disease that often takes many people by surprise. If you or a loved one around you is a high-functioning alcoholic who is low-key struggling to remain healthy, contact an addiction rehab today for a personalised, comprehensive treatment plan curated by professionals.

FAQs

How long does alcohol take to kick in?

For a healthy person, the effects of alcohol begin within 15 to 45 minutes of consuming a drink. This time is dependent on how fast your body metabolises and absorbs alcohol in the bloodstream. If you are consuming alcohol on an empty stomach, its metabolic breakdown speeds up, leading to quicker effects. Having food in your body, on the other hand, delays the process of absorption and may interfere with the alcoholic effects.

How do I know when I am drunk?

The higher your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is, the more likely you are to get drunk and develop the signs of intoxication that may include the following:

Confusion
Slurring of speck
Reduced inhibitions
Difficulty in remembering things
Impairment in coordination
Breathing problems/ reduced respiratory effort
Having a hard time concentrating on things

Why is it important to get alcohol out of your system quickly?

People whose BAC reach a level enough to cause intoxication are at risk for
Violence
Suicide
Homicide
Motor accidents
Risky behaviours

So before you hurt yourself or others around you under the effects of intoxication, it is imperative to do something to dilute alcohol in your system or kick it out altogether.

What factors influence how fast alcohol is broken down by the body?

The following factors determine the rate at which your body breaks down alcohol and absorbs it:
Age
Gender
Weight
Amount of food eaten before alcohol consumption
The type and strength of alcohol
Metabolic speed
Any medications taken simultaneously

Can drinking coffee or water help me sober up?

Contrary to popular belief, drinking coffee or water cannot speed up the breakdown and elimination of alcohol from the system. They might be able to make you more alert but are incapable of altering the alcohol levels in the blood. As long as your rate of consuming alcohol is higher than the expulsion rate, the BAC will continue to rise, leading to progressive signs of intoxication.

How much alcohol can kill you?

Alcohol overdose, also known as alcohol poisoning, is a serious issue. You can overdose on it when the amount of alcohol in your system is high enough to dangerously slow down or completely shut down the life-supporting functions, such as heart rate or breathing.

As the BAC in your body rises, you may start experiencing negative effects of intoxication and the risk of a possible overdose increases. As the BAC rises

What does an alcoholic face look like?

One of the facial characteristics of an alcoholic face that immediately appears when a drink is consumed is the redness or flushing of the face. Many alcoholics get a red, blotchy face soon after consuming alcohol, sometimes to the extent that others can notice intoxication just by looking at their warm, flushed skins. Alcohol can also alter how blood vessels work in the body. It causes these vessels to constrict and expand, pumping blood to the skin’s thinner areas. This effect also leads to ruddy cheeks.
In addition to this, alcohol also triggers facial swelling and bloating. Having a puffy face secondary to alcohol consumption isn’t just a cosmetic appearance issue. In fact, it can seriously lower your self-esteem. An alcoholic nose is also a facial consequence of drinking too much alcohol in which the nose takes on a purple hue and continues to become disfigured. Lastly, alcohol also flares up acne rosacea, leaving users with itchy, red, painful, and swollen skin.

HOW THE BALANCE CAN HELP WITH Alcohol

The Balance RehabClinic is a leading provider of luxury addiction and mental health treatment for affluent individuals and their families, offering a blend of innovative science and holistic methods with unparalleled individualised care.