Produced by
the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners
Alcohol workshop:  screening, assessment and      
management in general practice      
home topic information CME remaining work

Physical signs suggestive of heavy alcohol use may be evident on examination:

  • obesity
  • nicotine staining on fingers from smoking which is often associated with heavy drinking
  • scars which may indicate previous trauma
  • facial erythema which is sometimes present as a result of chronic heavy drinking

However, most often there are no abnormal examination findings.

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