Does anything actually cure a hangover? Sauna, cold and IV drips

Short answer: No. A 2005 BMJ systematic review of randomised trials found no compelling evidence that any intervention prevents or treats a hangover, and a 2022 review found only very low quality evidence for any remedy it assessed. A sauna adds fluid loss and fainting risk; cold gives alertness over an unchanged hangover; an IV drip mostly sells saline. Water, rest, time. If someone is confused, seizing, breathing slowly or cannot be woken, that is alcohol overdose, not a hangover: call 911.

Hangover cures are a common wellness pitch, and they have been tested. The conclusion of the reviews is unusually direct: nothing works well.

That does not mean nothing helps at all. It means the things people sell as cures, including the heat, cold, and drip options that wellness venues now offer, have no good evidence of shortening or resolving a hangover.

One of them, the sauna, is not merely useless but actively works against you. That is the part worth knowing before you book a recovery session for the morning after.

When is it more than a hangover?

A hangover does not need 911. Alcohol overdose does, and the worst of the night can run into the morning.

NIAAA’s critical signs are mental confusion or stupor, difficulty remaining conscious or inability to wake up, vomiting, seizures, slow breathing (fewer than 8 breaths per minute), irregular breathing (10 seconds or more between breaths), slow heart rate, clammy skin, no gag reflex, and extremely low body temperature, bluish skin color or paleness. If you suspect an overdose, call 911 immediately, and do not wait for the person to have all the symptoms.

Do not leave the person alone to sleep it off: NIAAA warns that a person who has passed out can die. If they are unconscious or lying down, roll them onto one side to prevent choking. Cold showers, hot coffee and walking do not reverse an overdose and could make things worse, so a sauna or a cold plunge is no answer either.

Alcohol withdrawal is the other emergency. MedlinePlus says symptoms tend to occur within 8 hours after the last drink, and to go to the emergency room or call 911 if seizures, fever, severe confusion, hallucinations or irregular heartbeats occur.

What does the evidence say?

A systematic review found nothing compelling.

The reference is Pittler, Verster and Ernst in the BMJ in 2005, a systematic review of randomised controlled trials of interventions for preventing or treating alcohol hangover. It reviewed eight randomised controlled trials of eight different interventions, none of them a sauna, a cold plunge or an IV drip.

The conclusion was that no compelling evidence exists to suggest any conventional or complementary intervention is effective for preventing or treating alcohol hangover, and that the most effective way to avoid one is to practise abstinence or moderation.

Twenty years on, the picture has not fundamentally changed. A 2022 systematic review in Addiction covered 21 studies with 386 participants. No two studies tested the same remedy, every efficacy result was rated very low quality, and it concluded that only very low quality evidence is available to recommend any active remedy. NIAAA’s fact sheet, updated December 2025, says none of the remedies mentioned on the web and in social media have been scientifically proven to be effective.

Why does a sauna work against you?

You start already short of fluid and sleep, often with a racing heart.

A hangover involves mild dehydration, disrupted sleep and an irritated stomach, often with a headache. NIAAA lists increased blood pressure among the typical symptoms and MedlinePlus lists a rapid heartbeat. A sauna adds heavy sweating and further fluid loss to all of that.

The subjective story is that you sweat it out and feel cleansed. We found no trial of a sauna for a hangover, so that feeling has not been tested, and very little alcohol leaves through your skin anyway.

There is also a safety edge. A 1988 Finnish paper warns that sauna bathing during the hangover phase creates real health risks, including heart rhythm problems, though it says human data on sauna and alcohol are lacking.

A 2001 review says alcohol during sauna bathing increases the risk of low blood pressure, arrhythmia and sudden death. If alcohol could still be in your system, stay out: if you would not drive, do not sauna. Our guides on alcohol and sauna and what to do if you feel faint cover both, and neither is theoretical.

Hangover cures at a glance

Option	Does it cure a hangover?	Notes
Sauna or steam	No, and it adds fluid loss	A Finnish paper warns of real health risks in the hangover phase
Cold plunge	No	Feels sharpening; we found no trial for hangovers
IV vitamin drip	No good evidence	You are paying mostly for saline
Sweating it out	No	Alcohol is metabolised by the liver, not the pores
Coffee	No	May help alertness; NIAAA says it will not cure a hangover
Painkillers	Symptom relief only	Avoid acetaminophen (Tylenol, paracetamol) after drinking; aspirin and ibuprofen can irritate the stomach
Fluids and electrolytes	Helps thirst and mild dehydration	Added electrolytes not shown to change severity
Food	Not a cure	Very little evidence for fruit juice or honey
Time and sleep	The only thing that resolves it	Unwelcome, accurate

What about IV vitamin drips?

Fast saline, expensive framing.

Hangover IV drips are now a standard offer in wellness clinics and in some cities as a mobile service. What is in the bag is usually saline, sometimes with B vitamins, vitamin C, and an anti-nausea or anti-inflammatory medication.

The saline can restore fluid quickly, which is a real effect if you are genuinely depleted, but NIAAA calls the dehydration of a hangover mild and says research has not found that added electrolytes change how bad it is. We found no trial of IV vitamins for a hangover, and any added medicines are still medicines: tell whoever runs the drip what you drank and what you take.

Against that, Cleveland Clinic lists infection or bruising at the needle site, vitamin toxicity at high doses, an embolism and drug interactions as risks. It says FDA has warned about the safety of IV mixtures from hydration clinics and spas, which it calls largely unregulated, and that a basic session typically costs more than $150 (March 2026). It advises avoiding IV vitamin therapy if you are seeing a provider for heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease or pregnancy.

Our guide on IV therapy and vitamin drips covers what the category can and cannot do. Oral fluids reach the same place for the price of a bottle of water.

Does a cold plunge help?

It feels sharpening, and we found no trial showing it changes anything.

Cold immersion produces a large adrenaline and noradrenaline response, so you feel alert and awake afterwards. That is real, and it is why people swear by it the morning after.

We found no trial of a cold plunge for a hangover. NIAAA says there is no way to speed up the brain’s recovery from alcohol use, and nothing we found suggests cold touches the inflammation, the disrupted sleep, the acetaldehyde or the dehydration behind a hangover. Expect a temporary alertness spike on top of the same hangover.

There is also a safety point. Cold shock is a cardiac stress, and doing it while dehydrated, poorly slept, and possibly still processing alcohol is not the moment for it. If any alcohol remains in your system, skip it entirely. Our cold plunge safety guide covers who should avoid it.

Can you sweat alcohol out?

No, and this myth deserves a specific answer.

Most alcohol is oxidized in your liver, and we found nothing showing that sweating or heat speeds that up. A small fraction leaves through breath, urine and sweat. This is the same misunderstanding behind the sauna-as-detox claim generally, which our guide on whether sweating detoxes your body covers. A 2012 review of alcohol metabolism puts the share that leaves unchanged through breath, sweat and urine together at less than 10%, and our guide to what you can and cannot sweat out has the numbers.

Worth stating plainly for a practical reason: if you are still over the limit, a sauna will not sober you up before driving. People do believe this and it is dangerous.

The hangover itself is not only the alcohol either. NIAAA says symptoms peak when your blood alcohol concentration returns to about zero, which is why flushing it out makes little sense. But do not treat feeling rough, or feeling fine, as a sobriety test. NIAAA warns that during a hangover your attention, decision-making and muscle coordination can all be impaired, and that driving, operating machinery and caring for others can be affected.

So what actually helps?

Water, rest, care with painkillers, and time.

Rehydrate with water. An electrolyte drink is fine: MedlinePlus says sports drinks and bouillon soup are good for replacing the salt and potassium you lose, though NIAAA says research has not found that added electrolytes change how bad a hangover is. Eat something if you can keep it down, but MedlinePlus says there is very little scientific evidence for fruit juice or honey.

Be careful with painkillers, and know the names: acetaminophen (Tylenol) is the same drug as paracetamol, and a label may print it as APAP. MedlinePlus says to avoid any medicines for your hangover that contain it, because it may cause liver damage when combined with alcohol, and not to take it at all if you drink three or more alcoholic drinks every day.

Aspirin and ibuprofen are not a free pass. NIAAA says they can increase acid release and irritate the lining of the stomach, and MedlinePlus says the risk of ulcers and bleeding from ibuprofen may be higher in people who drink large amounts of alcohol. The trial result for tolfenamic acid, an anti-inflammatory, rests on very low quality evidence, so we cannot rank one painkiller over another for a hangover. If you take other medication or have liver or stomach issues, ask a pharmacist rather than guessing.

Then sleep, and wait. Time is the only intervention that resolves a hangover, and that has been the finding for twenty years. If you want to spend money on wellness the morning after, a quiet dark room is better value than any of the options above. Our guide on whether a sauna or cold plunge before bed helps you sleep covers the sleep side for normal days.

FAQ: hangover cures

Why do so many recovery studios market hangover packages? Because demand is enormous and waiting it out is not something you can sell. Do not read an offer as proof that it works or that its claims are allowed: on July 29, 2020, FDA issued warning letters to seven companies whose products claim to cure, treat, mitigate or prevent hangovers, saying those products, labeled as dietary supplements, are unapproved new drugs.

Is a hair of the dog a real thing? NIAAA says it might temporarily minimize some symptoms but could contribute to and prolong the malaise. If you need a morning drink to stop feeling shaky or sick, that can be alcohol withdrawal rather than a hangover, so talk to a clinician. SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), gives free and confidential treatment referrals 24 hours a day.

What about electrolyte powders and hangover supplements? Electrolytes replace salt and potassium, but NIAAA says research has not found that added electrolytes change how bad a hangover is. For supplements, a 2022 review found only very low quality evidence for any remedy, and FDA says consumers should not rely on hangover products as an alternative to limiting their drinking.

If I do go to a sauna anyway, how do I do it safely? We would skip it: a Finnish paper warns of real health risks in the hangover phase. If you go anyway, hydrate first and throughout, take the lowest bench, keep it short and cooler than usual, leave at the first sign of lightheadedness, and do not go at all if you would not drive.

The bottom line on hangover cures

A systematic review of randomised trials found no compelling evidence that any intervention effectively prevents or treats a hangover, and a 2022 review found only very low quality evidence for any remedy it assessed. The wellness options are not exceptions to that.

A sauna works against you, because it adds fluid loss and a Finnish paper warns of real health risks in the hangover phase. Cold gives you an alertness spike over an unchanged hangover, and an IV drip mostly sells you saline, at more than $150 for a basic session by Cleveland Clinic’s March 2026 account. Water, rest, and time are the honest answer. If someone is confused, seizing, breathing slowly or cannot be woken, that is not a hangover: call 911.