Alcohol can affect your body in many different ways and excessive sweating is one of them. But why do you sweat more after drinking? And can you actually use perspiration to your advantage to reduce the effects of a hangover?
Continue reading to find out why hitting the gym after a night of heavy drinking may not be such a good idea.
Why Do I Sweat When Hungover?
Hangover perspiration is the body’s natural reaction to ingesting alcohol. Drinking increases your heart rate and causes your blood vessels to widen, a process known as vasodilation. Dilated blood vessels then trigger the release of sweat, making your skin feel warm and flushed.
Sweating can occur at any time, but because many people drink in the evenings, it is usually felt at night. For most people, night sweats due to alcohol consumption subside after a few hours and don’t have a lasting impact.
Even though hangover perspiration is a common side effect of drinking alcohol, it may also be a sign of other issues.
Alcohol withdrawal
People who drink heavily often experience night sweats several hours or even days after consuming alcohol. Along with anxiety, depression, headache, loss of appetite, and sleep problems, this symptom of alcohol withdrawal frequently affects individuals who suffer from alcohol use disorder (AUD).
Alcohol intolerance
Excessive sweating and face flushing may be an indication that your body doesn’t tolerate drinking. People with alcohol intolerance may need to limit their alcohol consumption or avoid drinking altogether in order to prevent night sweats. Sometimes you may also appear to have alcohol intolerance when you are in fact reacting to another ingredient in your drink.
Other factors
Menopause and medication use can cause hot flashes and night sweats and drinking alcohol often worsens these pre-existing symptoms.
In some cases, hangover perspiration may have serious consequences to your health. Let’s take a closer look.
Is It Good to Sweat After a Night of Drinking?
Because alcohol is diuretic that causes the body to lose more water than it takes in, drinking can easily leave you dehydrated.
Dehydration is the root cause of many common hangover symptoms, including dry mouth, nausea, brain fog, weakness, dizziness, and headaches. Hangover perspiration can dehydrate your body even further, worsening your hangover symptoms. What’s more, severe dehydration can lead to coma, organ failure, and death.
You should be paying close attention to any additional symptoms you experience during a hangover. For example, the hangover chest pain in combination with excessive sweating might be a sign of heart disease.
If you suffer from mild hangover perspiration, the following tips will help you reduce sweating and prevent dehydration:
- Drink enough fluids—water, water with electrolytes, or sports drinks like Gatorade
- Take a shower to remove excess salt from dried sweat
- Keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature for sleeping (between 66-70 degrees Fahrenheit) and avoid using too many heavy blankets
- Wear light and loose-fitting pajamas
- Eat a healthy, balanced meal
- Avoid caffeine and spicy food.
How Long Should Hangover Sweats Last?
Night sweats are in most cases temporary, but they may continue for up to 24 hours after you had your last drink. In some extreme instances you can get a two day hangover.
Keep in mind, however, that excessive night sweats after alcohol consumption may indicate symptoms of a drinking problem.
You should consult your doctor if you’re not sure what’s causing your night sweats or if you have any accompanying symptoms.
Some people believe they can sweat out alcohol by going to a gym or sauna after a night of drinking. But is it really a good idea?
Can You Actually Sweat Out Alcohol?
The alcohol you consume is broken down through metabolic processes within your body. However, your liver is only able to metabolize about one standard serving of alcohol every hour—that’s approximately 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or a shot of vodka. The more you drink, the longer it will take your body to fully metabolize all of the alcohol you consumed.
The alcohol that doesn’t get metabolized by the liver is broken down into diacetic acid, carbon dioxide, and water. These components are eliminated through sweat, urine, and breath. By the time you’re feeling a hangover, most of the alcohol in your system has already been metabolized by your liver and it is no longer possible to sweat it out. This means that what you’re sweating is not alcohol, but its byproducts.
Likewise, you can’t sweat out hangover symptoms like a throbbing headache, nausea, muscle aches, or upset stomach. On the contrary, excessive sweating will only aggravate your hangover if you become dehydrated.
Exercising with a hangover
Exercising can make your hangover worse, particularly if you had a lot to drink the night before without properly rehydrating. Before you decide to work out, you should be aware of some of the risks involved in sweating out a hangover:
- Sweating while exercising can cause you to dehydrate even more.
- One of the side effects of drinking too much is brain fog and being unable to concentrate, which makes it more likely to injure yourself or others in the gym.
- When you're hungover, you may become clumsy and uncoordinated, and risk injuring yourself or others.
- Drinking puts an increased amount of stress on the body, which makes exercising much harder.
Engaging in intense exercising after drinking is never a good idea and you shouldn’t use workouts to cure hangover symptoms. But if you only have a slight hangover, you may want to consider a gentle workout such as stretching, walking, or yoga. Exercise releases endorphins that will boost your energy and mood. Just make sure that you are properly hydrated and your stomach has settled down.
If you don’t feel like working out, IV therapy is a safe and effective way to beat a hangover.
Why IV Therapy Is Better for a Hangover Than "Sweating It Out"
There is no evidence that having night sweats or making yourself perspire can cure a hangover any faster. In fact, if you work out after you are already dehydrated, your hangover symptoms will only get worse.
To fight off a hangover, you should do the opposite of “sweating it out”. Staying well-hydrated will help you get back on track faster and will give your body time to naturally process the alcohol before your next drink.
An IV bag for hangovers will provide your body with a cocktail of fluids and vitamins. The treatment will leave you feeling refreshed and help you effectively conquer your hangover. An IV drip doesn’t only rehydrate your body, but also flushes out toxins and restores nutrients you lost while drinking. Additional minerals and vitamins, such as B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, and folic acid, will help you prevent vertigo, nausea, and headaches.
Reset IV hangover treatments are a fast and effective way to combat dehydration and other common hangover symptoms. We offer a range of customizable hangover packages to help you recover from a night of partying and drinking.
If you would like to learn more about our IV therapy for hangover and schedule an appointment, feel free to call Reset IV at 1-833-737-3848 or send us a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.