Hangover Cures, Ranked: What Actually Works (and the Cold-Shower Question)

Works

1. Fluids with electrolytes, in sips. A hangover is partly dehydration and partly lost salts. Water alone is fine; water with sodium and potassium (broth, an oral rehydration drink, a sports drink cut with water) is better. Sip through the morning, do not chug.

2. Sleep. Alcohol wrecks deep sleep, and that is a big part of why you feel awful. A real nap does more than most cures on this list.

3. Food. Eggs, toast, fruit, rice. Your blood sugar is low and your stomach needs something gentle. Eat before the painkiller.

4. Time. The body clears alcohol at its own pace. Nothing on this list speeds that up. Everything that works makes the wait easier.

Helps a little

5. A painkiller for the headache. Ibuprofen or similar, with food. It does nothing for the dehydration. Skip acetaminophen (Tylenol) after heavy drinking; it is hard on a liver that is already busy.

6. A shower. The question we get most: cold or hot? Neither cures anything. A warm shower relaxes tight muscles and clears your head. A short cold shower wakes you up and can lift your mood for a bit. If your heart is already racing, skip the cold. Pick the one that makes you feel human. It is comfort, not treatment.

7. Coffee, one cup. Clears the fog for a while. More than one and you add a racing heart and more dehydration.

Does nothing or makes it worse

8. The greasy breakfast. It would have helped last night, by slowing how fast alcohol hits. The morning after, it mostly sits in a stomach that does not want it.

9. Hair of the dog. Another drink delays the hangover, it does not cancel it. It also makes the next one worse.

10. "Detox" drinks and pills. No credible evidence. Your liver is the detox.

Where a drip fits

When you are far behind, cannot keep fluids down, or need to function in two hours, a Hangover drip puts back a liter of fluid with electrolytes, B vitamins and glutathione in about 45 minutes, straight into the bloodstream. With a provider's order, the nurse can add anti-nausea or anti-pain support. A licensed nurse comes to you anywhere in New York and New Jersey, 8 AM to 11 PM. It is not a cure. It is numbers 1, 3 and a bit of 5, done in one bag, on your couch.

Rough morning? Book a Hangover drip at zenivspa.com.

All treatments are medical services. Every guest is screened, and every treatment is provided only under the clearance, prescription or standing protocol of a licensed medical provider. Compounded peptides are not FDA-approved unless stated. Nothing on this page is a diagnosis or a promise of results.