How Does Medical Detox Work?

How Does Medical Detox Work? : A detox involves a process by which a person’s body gets rid of a substance and its toxins. These substances could be alcohol or other drugs. Usually, drug rehabilitation centers offer medical detoxification for those who have developed a dependency on a substance. But how does a medical detox work?

Who Can Benefit from Medical Detox?

Anyone who uses alcohol or drugs over a long period of time will cause their brain to get used to the substance. The brain adapts to levels of the drug and eventually, a person will build up a tolerance, where they have to consume more of something to feel its initial effects.

This often leads to the body needing the drug to function normally, so a person becomes dependent on a substance. As our bodies develop a dependency on a substance, they may present with uncomfortable or painful symptoms when we stop taking the substance and our body has to adjust to the absence of the substance. When the drug use is stopped, the body will react with headaches, nausea, fevers, and many other effects, known as withdrawal symptoms.

In order to avoid these uncomfortable symptoms and satisfy a big craving for a substance, people may struggle to stop drug or alcohol use. Very often, addiction to a substance can result in an alcohol or substance use disorder, whereby a person compulsively consumes a substance despite the harmful consequences. Out of people using illegal drugs in the United States, a shocking 28 million people had an alcohol use disorder in 2020.

Medical detox can help a person to stop taking drugs or alcohol, as it teaches the body to function without the presence of a substance while reducing a person’s cravings for it. In doing so, it can help prevent those who are in recovery from relapsing. Luckily, around 3000 facilities in the United States offered detoxification by 2018, and the number has since grown.

What Is a Medical Detox?

Medical detox allows a person’s body to clear toxins while managing the symptoms of withdrawal with the use of medicine, thereby allowing a person to overcome a physical dependency. During medical detox, a physician may administer different medications to assist in withdrawal, depending on the type of substance used.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), medications play a very important role in the treatment of patients with dependency. As taking drugs can affect our brains, our cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and many other systems, withdrawal from drug abuse can be dangerous or even life-threatening. That is why a medical detox at an addiction treatment centre or rehabilitation facility may be crucial when attempting to stop substance use or abuse. It provides a person with a safe, supervised environment, and the support of medical health professionals who can help to manage the withdrawal process.

NIDA also states that medically assisted detoxification is only the first stage of addiction treatment and by itself “does little to change long-term drug abuse.” This means that medical detox helps to safely manage the acute physical symptoms that occur during withdrawal and may help a person to start their addiction treatment, but it does not result in long-term abstinence without the help of other treatments.

That is why medical detoxification is usually only the initial part of addiction treatment and is followed up by various therapies, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy or motivational enhancement therapy.

How Do Medicines Work in Detox?

While each medical detox varies according to the substance abuse that is being treated, the general way medicine helps is by reducing cravings and opiod withdrawal symptoms while stabilizing a person.

As an example, we may take medical detox for heroin, which is often injected, smoked, or snorted and causes an immediate, short period of euphoria. Like other opioids, it reacts in the body very shortly after being taken, and its effects do not last very long.

A period of euphoria ends very rapidly, and a person may experience a ‘crash’ very soon after they have taken the drug. They will then have an intense craving to use the drug again, in order to keep feeling the euphoria and avoid crashing. This cycle is often repeated several times a day, while the fast fluctuations of heroin in the body also cause a person to behave abnormally.

In medical detox, a health professional may administer medicines like buprenorphine and methadone orally. While not being a substitute for heroin, it can stabilize a person and help reduce their cravings.

The medicines will have a gradual effect on a patient instead of a rapid one and will produce stable levels of it in the brain. This consistency reduces intense cravings for the drug, while also emitting the experience of a euphoric rush. It reduces the fast fluctuations that happen within the body when dependent on a drug like heroin, making behavioral abnormality fade away.

The Process of Medical Detox

Medical detox can sometimes be done on an outpatient basis, meaning that a person may not reside at a treatment facility but instead only undergo detox there. Usually, however, medical detox at a rehabilitation facility involves three stages and may require inpatient care.

Evaluation

Before undergoing the physical detox process, a person will be evaluated. During an evaluation, a person may be asked to complete a questionnaire for health professionals to learn their background and medical history. The health professionals will also take blood tests, and do a general screening for any mental health disorders. The physician will determine the psychological health and strength of the person so that he can create a treatment plan for the patient.

Detox and Stabilization

In this step, patients stop drug use, and medical staff helps the person to achieve a stable condition. Withdrawal symptoms and cravings will come about here, and medication may be used to ease their discomfort or pain. The length of the withdrawal period varies from person to person and depends on what substance was used and for how long, but stabilization usually requires one to three weeks.

After Detox Care

While the most severe physical effects will happen during detox, most of the psychological effects of drug use occur after detox. Usually, patients are prompted to undergo additional treatment after detox, which usually involves long-term therapies to ensure recovery.