What Causes Severe Pain In Arm And Shoulder After Excessive Alcohol Intake?

Posted on Mon, 9 Jun 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 9 Jun 2014 Answered on

Mon, 30 Jun 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : After drinking more alcohol than usual the next day I get terrible pain in my hand and up my arm into my shoulder which usually lasts 1-2 days. Is this serious and what is it caused by?

Answered by Dr. Shailja Puri (51 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Nerve related or musculoskeletal pain, exam needed

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query on HealthcareMagic.

Does the pain in your upper limb always preceded by alcohol consumption?
If yes then the pain could be due to alcohol related side effect e.g. nerve related pain.
Alcohol is known to cause neuropathy.

However, there are many other causes of pain in upper limb.
Musculoskeletal pain is a common cause of this kind of pain.
Trauma or injury can be the cause of musculoskeletal pain.
Nerve related disorders is another possibility as mentioned above.

To come to a final diagnosis, I would suggest you to consult an orthopedician for clinical assessment and relevant investigations.
At the same time, get liver function tests done to know the status of liver functions.
Alcohol has deleterious effect on liver functions.
If you are consuming large wuantities on alcohol, you need to reduce its consumption.

If you have more queries, I will be glad to answer.
Dr Shailja P Wahal

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj