Alcohol Detox

Alcohol detoxification, more commonly known as "alcohol detox," is a difficult but necessary part of recovery. In fact, alcohol detox is the first step in the physical recovery of your body from alcoholism.

Once you have decided that you have a problem with alcohol abuse and need to detox, you must check yourself into a treatment facility to undergo alcohol detox. While you might think you are able to detox from alcohol at home, alcohol detox must be done within the walls of a medical facility.

As an alcoholic, your body becomes accustomed to alcohol, requiring it to function "normally." When you remove alcohol from your system, your body reacts violently, with convulsions, nausea and other uncomfortable physical effects. If you aren't detoxing from alcohol in a treatment center, you can develop dangerous, even fatal, complications.

Alcohol detox can be viewed in three separate stages:

1. Medical Detox: A medical doctor will need to supervise your medical withdrawal from alcohol, ensuring you complete this phase safely and with minimal complications. Medical alcohol detox can take several days.

2. Physical Detox: Once your body is no longer dependent on alcohol, you will need to work on building up your physical health. A nutritionist can be helpful during this phase, enabling you to develop a balanced diet to help you through the rest of your detox.

3. Emotional Detox: Alcohol detox can be extremely difficult on your emotional health, which is why most treatment centers offer counseling during detox. Because alcohol has become an integral part of your mental, emotional and social life, you will need emotional help as you detox.

Although alcohol detox sounds like a long, complicated process -- and it is! -- alcohol detox is a necessary part of recovery from alcoholism.

If alcoholism might be a problem for you or someone you love, we encourage you to give Treatment Referral a call today to learn more about treatment options.