Do Showers Help Hangovers?

It was a good night of partying, and everything went smashingly fine. You have had a few cans of beer, a sip of luscious red wine, and maybe a few shots of tequila in the bar. Everything was dandy until the morning. You wake up, and you are in a heap of trouble. You have a delightfully annoying hangover.

Some muscles you never knew you had are aching, your head spinning, and you just feel so heavy, drowsy, and lazy. But you need to go to work today; your boss is hounding you on that deadline, and your coworkers just don’t know what to do without you in the office.

What do you do? Well, you can take a shower, for starters. You might be thinking? Really, with just taking a shower, my hangover will go away just like that? Sounds sketchy, right? Maybe it won’t all go away, but in this article, we can debunk this theory and prove or disprove whether showers do help hangovers. 

Knowing Your Hangover

Finding a solution to a problem always starts with finding the root of the problem. There is no one-shot deal when it comes to solving daily life problems. Sometimes, what can be true to one person may not apply to another. 

In case you haven’t heard before, everyone is unique and special; that’s like saying no one is, but not to ruin the theatrics and debate of it all. Knowing how your own body conducts itself around a hangover will help in finding a good solution around it.

Some hangovers are a little rough to ride out with symptoms like nausea, dizziness, and vomiting, to say the least, and then there are the extremes like vertigo, muscle aches, and increased blood pressure leading to heart attacks.

These symptoms may need some form of medical intervention, yet some hangovers easily come and easily go without doing much damage to the person. There are degrees on which each hangover hits a person who got drunk from the previous night or day.

These hangovers can also last differently; what it means is that each hangover can have varying lengths of durations depending on how much one has had to drink. 

Can You Just Shower to Help Ease A Hangover? 

Studies, published articles, and experts would have different opinions on the theory about the efficacy of taking a shower when one has a hangover. There isn’t much evidence or exact science to state that taking a shower does help ease the symptoms of a hangover.

After all, taking showers is viewed as a means to clean oneself and keep the dirt off and keep the freshness on; never was it viewed as something as a source of medical relief. But here are some opinions on the matter of whether a simple shower can help during times of hangovers. 

It’s a Cold Shower for Me, Please

Taking a  shower is always a wonderful experience, especially when you are tired after a day’s grimmy work or when you need to feel refreshed before you speed your way to work.  It can also be a source of great relief for a person who has had a fun night of drinking.

But what is a cold shower? You might be laughing and scratching your head, thinking. A cold shower is when the water is cold. Well, you’re not wrong about that, but there is more to it than meets the eye.

Basically, cold showers are showers that have the water settings or temperature right around 70°F or approximately 21° C. Now if you pay attention to your science classes, the human body’s core or normal temperature is around 98.6°F or 37°C so that is pretty cold for anyone, especially if you’re thinking of hopping into a cold shower right around the breezy, cold morning airs of October to December.

But cold showers do have some benefits, like relieving depression among adults by increasing the production of endorphins or the happy hormone through hydrotherapy, which may help in increasing the metabolic rate of any person, including obese people, to help aid in their lifestyle change and increase the chances of them losing weight and getting closer to being healthy as mentioned. 

Cold showers after a nice soak in a hot tub help jump-start the body’s circulation, aid in the reduction of swelling and inflammation, muscle pains, and fatigue, as well as lowering the levels of stress. Giving it more opportunities to get rid of the toxins that accumulated during the heavy drinking the night before. It affirms the first claims that cold showers are, to some extent, helpful in easing one’s hangovers. 

Still, on the subject of taking cold showers, another benefit that a person stands to gain in taking cold showers is the improvement of mood swings, anxieties, tension, depression, anger, and hostility that come with the complications of having a hangover. 

Hot, Cold, and Everything in Between

Things get steamy, literally, when the subject matter is about hot showers. If you like it hot, you can always set your shower settings to a warmer temperature. Taking hot showers promotes better cardiovascular health, while the warmth of the shower helps soothe those stiff and rigid joints and consequently helps improve sleep.

You can always go with a bit of both. Try taking a contrast bath or a bath where you alternate the hot and cold water. Some research says that it is a good option as it both gives you the benefit of jumping-starting your circulation and stimulating good blood flow. 

However, a simple shower cannot be assumed as a surefire cure for hangovers. They say that taking a cold shower in the morning after a rough night of drinking can in some way be of beneficial help to the person suffering from a hangover. The bottom line is it can only mitigate specific symptoms. 

Here is an interesting piece of information you might want to put in your pocket for small conversations. Did you know that the human body was designed to have the capacity to metabolize alcohol on a fixed schedule? Like clockwork, the human liver is designed to metabolize an ounce of 100-proof whiskey, maybe a can of beer, or a glass of wine in an hour.

What this means is that even if a person does not take a particular cold, hot, or contrasting type of shower, their body is already designed to take measures in taking care of itself during a hangover by lowering the alcohol levels in the blood. But it also does not mean that taking a shower is not helpful since some symptoms of a hangover can be alleviated. 

Conclusion

Not much is known whether or not any type or way of showering is a surefire way to ease up one’s hangover. It may work for some and may not for others; each is his own in the end. No one knows himself better than anyone else, so if you think it works for you then go ahead and take that shower you’ve been coveting. 

Mark Simons

I am a passionate beer connoisseur with a deep appreciation for the art and science of brewing. With years of experience tasting and evaluating various beers, I love to share my opinions and insights with others and I am always eager to engage in lively discussions about my favorite beverage.