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Understanding Detoxification
Detoxification is the medically supervised process of clearing an addictive substance from the body while managing withdrawal. It is a function performed under clinical care, since withdrawal from some substances can be medically dangerous without supervision. Detoxification aims to safely clear the substance from the body and prepare a person for the next phase of treatment.
Detox refers to the process of clearing a substance from the body while managing withdrawal symptoms. At Urban Recovery, this happens in 6 dedicated detox beds with 24/7 medical oversight.
Factors Influencing Detox Duration
The duration can vary from person to person depending on a few key factors. Let's look at what influences detox duration: the substance itself, individual health, and severity of dependence.
The substance matters most, since alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal carry seizure risk that opioid and stimulant withdrawal don't. How long and how heavily someone has used affects severity. Overall health, including any pre-existing medical conditions, also shapes the timeline. This is why our clinical team uses standardized tools, the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS) for opioids and the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment (CIWA-Ar) for alcohol, rather than a fixed schedule.
Detox Timelines by Substance
Alcohol withdrawal typically begins within 6 to 24 hours of the last drink, peaks between 24 and 72 hours, and most detox programs run 5 to 7 days. Opioid withdrawal from short-acting opioids like heroin begins within 8 to 24 hours, and most opioid detox programs run 5 to 10 days. Benzodiazepine withdrawal requires a gradual taper rather than a sudden stop, so it often runs 1 to 2 weeks or longer depending on dose and duration of use. Stimulant withdrawal isn't medically dangerous the way alcohol or benzo withdrawal can be, but the depressive, fatigued phase can last 1 to 2 weeks.
Listening to Your Body
Mild fatigue, headaches, and disrupted sleep are common during detox and expected. Confusion, a fast heart rate, fever, or any sign of a seizure are not, and they mean something has become a medical emergency rather than a normal part of the process. This is the core reason inpatient detox with continuous monitoring exists, so staff can catch these signs before they become dangerous.
What Comes After Detox
Detox addresses physical withdrawal. It does not treat the reasons someone was using in the first place. At Urban Recovery, patients move directly from detox into our residential program at the same address, no transfer, with the same clinical team continuing care. Residential treatment includes individual and group therapy with 35 hours of structured counseling per week.
Contact US
Urban Recovery is CARF-accredited, dual OASAS-licensed, and SAMHSA-certified. Call our 24/7 admissions line at (646) 347-1892 for an assessment specific to your situation.
Sources
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (niaaa.nih.gov), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (samhsa.gov), and National Institute on Drug Abuse (nida.nih.gov) were used to confirm the clinical timelines referenced above.
