How to Use Alcohol to Treat Body Pain

Introduction

For a person with chronic body pain, everything in between waking up and going to sleep can be a chore. Some pain sufferers who are not willing or able to take pain pills use alcohol to mitigate their pain.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Choose an Alcoholic Drink to Combat Pain

Things You'll Need

• Juice (optional)
• Journal

Steps

1

Step One

Consider your drinking history. If you are an alcoholic, drinking to suppress your pain will most likely trigger your alcohol dependency. If you have never had an alcoholic drink before, you may want to start drinking slowly.

2

Step Two

Pick an alcoholic drink to treat your body pain based on the drink's alcohol content. A 12-oz. bottle of beer, a 5-oz. glass of wine and 1 1/2-ozs. of hard liquor all have the same alcohol content by volume. It is best to start with less than one serving to treat your pain and work your way up to a full serving.

3

Step Three

Use an alcoholic drink that you can enjoy to treat your pain. If you do not like wine, consider having beer. If you do not normally drink alcohol, consider mixing a tasteless alcohol, like vodka, with juice.

Manage Your Pain With Alcohol

Steps

1

Step One

Keep a journal of how much alcohol you drink to manage your pain. If you start noticing you need more alcohol to manage your pain, speak with your doctor about other pain-management options.

2

Step Two

Drink at a regular time each day. Make sure you do not drive, operate heavy machinery or do intricate work for an hour after consuming your chosen alcoholic beverage to avoid accidents. Learn more about the effects of alcohol at the Partnership for a Drug-Free America website (see Resources below).

3

Step Three

Avoid eating a few hours before drinking your chosen alcoholic drink if your dose isn't working as well as it did before. By not eating before your drink, the effects will be stronger. If you take this tactic, be sure to eat something and wait an hour before driving again.