Why is it dangerous to bathe after drinking?
There are times when I feel like taking a bath after drinking alcohol to refresh myself, but I heard that taking a bath after drinking is not a good idea.
Why is that, exactly?
Anesthetic effects of alcohol
When you drink a certain amount of alcohol, it has many effects. One is the "anesthetic effect" of alcohol. This anesthetic effect makes people feel good and makes them sleepy. If you fall asleep in the bath, there is a high risk of drowning.
The number of people who die from drowning in the bathtub is surprisingly high. For example, the number of people killed in traffic accidents in 2016 was 3,904, while the number of people killed by drowning in the bathtub at home was 5,138. You may think that there are few people who feel the danger of drowning in the bathtub, but as you can see from the numbers above, there are actually many people who die from drowning in the bathtub.
In fact, as you can see from the numbers above, there are many people who die after drowning in the bathtub. In a study of autopsies of people who died after drowning in the bathtub, alcohol was detected in about 13% of them.
The percentage may seem small, but if you calculate the number of people, about 670 people have drowned after taking a bath with alcohol in their system.
vasodilitation
And alcohol also has the effect of opening up blood vessels. When blood vessels open up, it means that there is more space for blood to pass through, which in turn makes it easier to lower blood pressure. To put it simply, if you push the end of a hose with your finger to make the inside of the hose narrower, the water will become more powerful. Think of this as a high blood pressure state. On the other hand, if you stop pressing the hose with your finger, the inside of the hose will become wider and the water will flow less vigorously even though the amount of water flowing is the same. This is the state of low blood pressure.
In other words, alcohol has the effect of widening the inside of blood vessels, which can easily cause fluctuations in blood pressure.
I mentioned that alcohol has the effect of opening up blood vessels, and bathing has the same effect. Therefore, the synergistic effect of alcohol and bathing increases the risk of anemia in the brain as a result of lowered blood pressure.
Age at which bathing should be done with caution
Also, when it comes to bathing, taking a hot bath can cause blood pressure to rise due to the stimulation of the heat. It is said that when blood pressure fluctuates wildly, it puts a burden on the heart and brain.
The number of fatal accidents in baths is relatively low among young people. In fact, 90% of people who die in the bath are over 65 years old! Therefore, elderly people should consider taking a bath when they feel they have had too much alcohol is very risky.
Be careful of dehydration.
When you drink alcohol, you may become dehydrated. This often happens at hot spring inns. Do you ever drink too much alcohol?
Do you ever drink too much alcohol? If you do this, the alcohol will dehydrate your body, and the perspiration from the bath will dehydrate you even more. When dehydration occurs, the water in the blood also decreases. This causes the blood to become sluggish.
When this happens, the blood vessels tend to clog up, and as a result, many people suffer a stroke. If this happens to you, you will not be able to enjoy your trip.
If you are going to drink alcohol and have a hot spring, try to enjoy the hot spring before drinking or drink less.
Finally
In conclusion, drinking and bathing are fundamentally incompatible. Therefore, if you feel that you have had a little too much to drink, it is better to refrain from taking a bath for safety reasons.
(Reference)
National Police Agency, Traffic Bureau (Traffic accident fatalities)
https://www.npa.go.jp/toukei/koutuu48/H28_setsumeishiryo.pdf
Consumer Affairs Agency (number of deaths from drowning in bathtubs at home):
http://www.caa.go.jp/policies/policy/consumer_safety/caution/caution_013/
Japanese Society of Forensic Medicine (Causes of fatal accidents in bathtubs):
http://www.jslm.jp/problem/yokusou.pdf