Drinking too much alcohol happens to the best of us.
After a night of heavy drinking, the fun stops as the hangover symptoms like headaches and upset stomachs begin.
While our alcohol consumption seemed like a good idea the night before, the following day ensured us that it was not the best idea.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get rid of those alcohol toxins quicker to get some relief from those hangover symptoms?
We’re happy to report that an infrared sauna might do just that. Sometimes sweating out the toxins brings you much-needed relief.
Let’s go through the specifics on how a sauna session after a night of too much alcohol might help that nagging headache.
What Does Drinking Alcohol Do to Your Body?
Before talking about hangover remedies like an infrared sauna or a steam sauna, let’s understand why high alcohol consumption can bring on such awful symptoms.
In a nutshell, drinking alcohol dehydrates you, which explains the headaches that you wake up feeling.
However, it can lead to way worse health risks if you are drinking heavily all too often.
Things like high blood pressure, abdominal issues like ulcers, increased blood sugar levels, and a lower immune system are all side effects of heavy drinking for a long time.
That said, even the occasional glass of wine or beer can cause hangover symptoms, and that’s where we look for the sauna cure.
How Can a Sauna Cure a Hangover?
As your body processes the alcohol in your bloodstream, it releases the toxins in the blood through sweat.
By sitting in infrared saunas, you can increase the release of toxins by sweating and decrease the amount of time you feel awful the next day after too much alcohol consumption.
By increasing your core body temperature, the benefits also include better circulation and relaxation, contributing to feeling better.
While getting the toxins out is vital, ensuring you are hydrated while in a sauna is imperative.
A good sauna session will help you feel better, but if you are too dehydrated and not drinking enough during the session, it could make you feel worse.
Since we mentioned before that alcohol leads to increased blood pressure, it’s critical to ask your doctor before you try the sauna hangover cure if you already suffer from high blood pressure.
Sweating out a Hangover
When you drink alcohol, your blood vessels become enlarged.
If there is still alcohol in your bloodstream the following day after a night out, it might cause you to sweat more than usual and possibly even smell like the alcohol you were consuming.
Crazy, right? Sweating out a hangover works to rid the body of harmful toxins and alcohol quicker.
Remember that how long you need to spend in the sauna and the amount of sweating you need will depend on how much you have been drinking the previous night.
Let the sweat pour in the sauna as long as you are drinking enough water to get yourself rehydrated. In the end, it should lead to feeling better from your hangover symptoms.
The length of time you should stay in the sauna will depend on a few factors.
If you don’t frequent a sauna much, it’s best to start with only 10-15 minutes.
Remember, you want to cure the hangover and not make it worse by sweating too much and dehydrating yourself more.
If a traditional sauna is where you spend plenty of time regularly, you can extend the time to up to 40 minutes.
Is a Dry or Wet Sauna Better after High Alcohol Consumption?
Generally, it is better to use a dry sauna as a hangover cure than a wet sauna.
In a dry sauna, you tend to sweat more, resulting in more toxins expelled from your body.
Since that is the goal when you have a hangover, a dry sauna is the better option.
Hangover Cures Done!
Some people swear by tomato juice, vitamin C, or even a bloody mary the night after overindulging in alcohol.
While those options are acceptable to some, sweating it out with a higher dose infrared sauna blanket or in a traditional sauna at the gym might help the common symptoms like headaches and stomach pain.
If you missed our best-infrared sauna blanket article, find out how you can get this hangover cure right at home. Infrared heat can raise your core body temperature to release those toxic minerals left behind by alcohol.
Keep that water bottle nearby, and make sure you are drinking plenty during your sauna session.
While saunas help your hangover, nothing can replace time as your liver works hard to process and get rid of the excess alcohol in your system.
Kristen holds a bachelors in English from Louisianna university. With a longstanding passion for fitness, she owns and operate her own gym and is a certified jazzercise instructor.