We are well aware about the fact that over intake of alcohol can cause severe side effects on the body. However, what could be the reason behind leg pain after drinking too much alcohol. To know the main causes as well as some other possible reasons of this problem, scroll down.
Do you suffer from leg pain after drinking alcohol and has it got you all tensed up and made you think, “Is there something wrong with me? Why do my legs ache after drinking?” Well, take a deep breath and relax. There’s nothing wrong with you. In fact, quite a few drinkers of alcohol complain about pain in their legs after downing a few drinks. The extent of pain can range from mild to moderate to severe. Also, there is no uniformity regarding when, or after consuming how many pegs, the pain will surface. Some experience pain after downing a small glass of wine, whereas others experience it at the fag end of a binge boozing session. So, if it happens to so many people, is leg aching after drinking alcohol a common phenomenon? And why does it happen? Well, the answer lies in the following paragraph.
Causes
There are two main reasons why legs pain after too much of alcohol consumption. One, alcohol intake increases the content of lactic acid in your body. Excessive build up of lactic acid in your body can lead to cramps or pain in your muscles. Two, alcohol leads to dehydration. Your body ends up falling short on electrolytes, and you tend to experience muscle pain or cramps. Of course, just how dehydrated you get will depend on what you drink, and how much of it you drink. The problem will only accentuate if you head home after a night of heavy drinking and directly collapse onto your bed. In such cases, you will most probably wake up the next morning with noticeable pain in your legs.
What to Do?
Drink plenty of water before going to sleep. Water intake will not only hydrate you, but will also lessen the concentration of built-up lactic acid in your body. This will help in reducing the chances of leg ache and muscle soreness. Also, eating foods that are rich in carbohydrates can be beneficial in these circumstances.
Other Likely Reasons
On a much lighter note, here are a few other perfectly possible and non-hypothetical reasons why, after a night of heavy drinking, you might wake up the next morning to find your legs aching.
- Too much dancing or aimless wandering around the city streets after getting drunk.
- Tripping and falling while climbing the stairs to your apartment in an inebriated condition.
- Collapsing in a heap on the couch at 2 am, and sleeping all night long in a weird, contorted position.
- Standing in a drunken state at the edge of the curb, trying to cross the road, and not knowing when a passing car ran over your foot.
- Mistaking a roadside garbage bin as being a football, the adjacent shop window as being the goal post, and trying to seal victory with a winning penalty kick.
This was a bit of information on why people suffer from leg pain after drinking too much alcohol. Remember to drink lots of water after consuming alcohol. It could save you from a bad hangover.
