I’ve developed an intolerance to alcohol. Can I still enjoy a Christmas drink? Dr Jeff answers your health questions
DR JEFF FOSTER is The Sun on Sunday’s new resident doctor and is here to help YOU.
Dr Jeff, 43, splits his time between working as a GP in Leamington Spa, Warks, and running his clinic, H3 Health, which is the first of its kind in the UK to look at hormonal issues for both men and women.
See h3health.co.uk and email at drjeff@the-sun.co.uk.
Q: MY 14-year-old son dislocated his patella/kneecap while playing football.
There was no impact that caused it – his knee just went out from under him while he was jogging.
We went to A&E where he was put in a straight leg splint and given crutches.
We have an MRI and follow-up booked, which is great but also concerning to him.
Is it likely that there will be ligament damage from a non-impact injury?
George Grayson, Ashford, Kent
A: It can be common for teenagers to sustain relatively mild joint injuries through sport as their bodies are going through a period of rapid change.
During puberty our bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles do not all necessarily mature at the same rate, and this imbalance can lead to an increased risk of pulling or injuring something.
Knee injuries are some of the most common sites for this to happen.
It is important to stress that you do not have to sustain an impact to damage a ligament, but when we talk about ligament injuries this encompasses the spectrum of mild stretching to full-on tear.
In most athletic teenagers, these injuries are not severe, and recovery with the aid of a physiotherapist is often all that is needed.
But the MRI will tell you for sure.
Q: I’M a 43-year-old woman and seem to have developed an intolerance to alcohol.
One glass of anything alcoholic and I’m fine, but two and I start to get a migraine- type headache and blocked sinuses.
All I can do to clear it is take painkillers and go to bed.
As we enter party season I don’t want to appear to be a killjoy so is there anything I can do to avoid this happening or should I just totally avoid alcohol?
Megan Banfield, Shropshire
A: It is possible to become intolerant to alcohol, and while many people blame additives in the drinks, such as tannins in wine or hops in beer, removing these usually has little effect in reducing the intolerance.
Interestingly, some people find that other medical problems can impact on their ability to tolerate alcohol, such as peri or true menopause, but this alone – without other symptoms of menopause – would not be a reason to consider hormone replacement therapy.
To see if you are building an allergy to alcohol, you could try taking an anti-histamine to see if it reduces your symptoms.
But in some cases if no underlying medical cause can be found, and antihistamines have no effects, then the only option is to avoid the trigger completely; which, in your case, would be alcohol.