Legs Ache After Drinking Alcohol

John was not a regular drinker. On a boys' night out at the club, the odd pint of beer was all that John would indulge himself in. One Friday evening, however, all that changed completely, in a matter of minutes. While chatting away at the bar with his buddies, John happened to see a hot chick, sitting alone at a corner table, eyeing him flirtatiously. Being a ladies man, John casually strolled up to Bips, and within moments, they were laughing, chatting, eating, drinking, and enjoying each other's company to the maximum. After the wonderful evening they'd shared, John thought of inviting Bips over to his apartment for a quick nightcap. She agreed. No sooner had he got up from his chair to fetch her coat, than he felt a severe flash of pain in his left leg. The pain was so excruciating that he literally collapsed onto the floor. That's when it hit him. He'd had too much to drink...

Have you experienced something similar too? Do your legs ache after drinking alcohol as well? Well, yours may be a story that could be different from that of John's, but chances are that the pain element would be much the same. So, if that's got you all tensed up and has 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 of 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 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 legs aching after drinking alcohol a common phenomenon? And why does it happen? Well, the answer lies in the following paragraph.

Why Do Legs Ache After Drinking Alcohol?
There are two main reasons why legs ache after drinking alcohol. 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. The solution to this problem is to drink plenty of water before you go 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 Reasons Why Legs Ache After Drinking Alcohol
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 short bit of information on why legs ache after drinking alcohol. You can read more on the effects of alcohol. Remember to drink lots of water after consuming alcohol. It could save you from a bad hangover.