Substance abuse is accompanied by adverse medical and psychological side effects. Continuous use of drugs can result in significant health problems for most vital organs of the body, especially the bladder, liver, kidney, and stomach. Likewise, psychological side effects can include depression, paranoia, anxiety, hallucinations, and dramatic mood swings.
Meanwhile, substance abuse can also affect your physical appearance, especially your complexion. Frankly, it’s one of the first things that people notice as the harmful effects of illicit drug use on the brain and body become visible as time goes by.
Similarly, bad skin tone, blemishes, and fine lines can significantly affect a person’s self-confidence, thereby affecting one’s emotional and mental health. Drug abuse can also result in skin damage. This is because of the drug itself and how it is delivered.
As drug abuse has many ill effects on the different aspects of a person’s health, it would be better to seek the help of rehabilitation centers. Such centers help a person with drug addiction to recover and be healthy again.
If you know someone in the same situation, particularly regarding heroin use, you can click for info here to learn more about the treatment programs offered in rehabilitation centers.
Read on to find out how substance abuse can affect your complexion.
Heroin Abscess
Heroin is a highly addictive illegal opioid. People who inject heroin are at risk of health concerns. One of these is skin sores like abscesses. When an individual injects drugs into his veins, the injection site can be affected and may cause heroin abscess. This could lead to amputation, as abscesses can cause gangrene, endocarditis, and sepsis.
The Primary Causes of Abscess are as Follows:
- Contamination. As heroin is an illegal opioid, it can fall short of standardized laboratory processing. Therefore, if a person injects contaminated heroin, it can cause skin sores.
- Unhygienic Practices. Individuals are at a much higher risk of abscesses if they use unclean needles to inject heroin. There’s also an increased risk for an abscess if there’s a nearby wound or dirty skin at the injection site.
- Compromised Immune System. An abscess may occur in intravenous heroin users if they already have a skin infection as this might cause them to have lower immunity to fight it.
As heroin is dangerous to the body, it’s ideal to find treatment as soon as possible. To treat heroin abscess, that part of the skin has to be opened and drained.Draining should be done first before antibiotics can be administered. This is performed in those with symptoms of bacterial infection in the entire body.
Rapid Aging Caused By Methamphetamine
Meth, also called crystal methamphetamine, is a potent stimulant drug of the central nervous system that is used by many illegally for recreation.
This drug is one of the primary drivers in the rise of fatal overdoses of individuals at the lowest points of their lives.
Like other drugs, it’s also known to cause skin issues. One of these is rapid aging. Regular use of the drug can affect the body’s blood flow and contribute to the risk of getting damaged blood vessels.
Cannabis Arteritis
Cannabis is the most used psychoactive substance by younger individuals. However, overconsumption of cannabis, regardless of whether it’s smoked or taken orally, can result in cannabis arteritis. It’s an uncommon blood vessel disease caused by the swelling of shallow blood vessels in the skin. This swelling results in blood clots.
Moreover, having blood clots can hinder blood flow, and such clots formed by cannabis overuse can result in necrosis. Necrosis refers to the death of tissues and other cells that don’t get the right amount of blood supply. This disease affects young adults, men in particular. Failure to address necrosis can end in the amputation of the infected body part.
Chronic Kidney Disease
Did you know that cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines have detrimental effects on the kidneys? These addictive substances can lead to chronic inflammation, impaired blood flow, and the formation of toxic by-products, all of which can contribute to kidney damage.
In the case of chronic kidney disease stage 5 or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), the kidneys can no longer filter excess fluids and waste from the blood, causing various health issues.
But how can chronic kidney disease (CDK) affect the skin? CDK has secondary effects on various organs and systems in the body, including the skin. These can include severe itching (pruritus) caused by the accumulation of toxins in the blood that impaired kidneys can’t filter effectively. Yellowish or bronze skin discoloration is common due to the build-up of waste products like bilirubin.
Additionally, individuals with kidney disease may experience dry and peeling skin due to dehydration and the kidneys’ inability to maintain fluid balance. In severe cases, uremic frost, a rare condition involving a powdery substance on the skin from the crystallization of urea, may occur.
These skin manifestations underscore the importance of addressing kidney health and seeking professional help, especially for those engaging in substance abuse.
Final Thoughts
Despite the awareness of the adverse medical and psychological side effects of the abuse of substances, many still fall prey to addiction for various reasons. The constant use of illegal drugs can affect many body organs, including the bladder, liver, and stomach. A person can also experience depression, anxiety, and hallucinations due to the effects some drugs can cause on the brain.
Substance abuse can also severely affect a person’s physical appearance, especially the skin. The skin could show how the use of illegal drugs has affected the brain and body of an individual, especially if he’s been using them for a long time. Substance abuse can also affect complexion. Furthermore, it can lead to heroin abscess, cannabis arteritis, and rapid aging.
Thus, if you or someone you know needs help concerning treatments available for substance abuse, don’t hesitate to call or ask someone. There are people around ready to hear you out and lend a hand so you can get the proper treatment you need.
