How to beat a hangover after that Christmas party!

WELLINGTON - After a hard night on the booze, you would do or pay just about anything to ease the headache, the nausea and the feeling as though you’re as dry as the Great Sandy Desert.

Over-indulging in alcohol is likely during the Christmas ’silly season’, but always stick to the proverb ‘prevention is better than cure’.

While, the Internet bursts with tips and tricks to speed up the recovery from the more ’self-induced morning sickness’, an Australian nurse, who wishes to remain anonymous, has revealed some of the medical guild’s most coveted secrets, reports Stuff.co.nz.

“When some doctors or nurses have a bad hangover, they sometimes self-administer intravenous fluids or put on an oxygen mask for a while,” she said.

Perth-based National Drug Research Institute director Steven Allsop said he was familiar with the unorthodox practices, having heard about them ‘in medical school 30 years ago’.

Breathing in pure oxygen with a mask could help ease fatigue and oxygen-depletion caused by an alcohol binge, while an IV drip could help alleviate the effects of dehydration a little faster than drinking fluids, he said.

Allsop said while science to date didn’t offer one single cure to relieve the sufferer, there were a variety of reasons why we feel bad when we drink.

“Some of it has to do with the metabolites from alcohol, and one of them is acetaldehyde, which is highly toxic and can make you feel very, very poorly,” he said.

“Alcohol is also diuretic, so you become dehydrated and that’s a particular issue in a country like ours, and some quench their thirst with alcohol, which is the worst thing you could do. It also impairs your sleep. You do fall asleep quickly initially, but it disturbs that deep, restful REM sleep,” he added.

Megan Alsford, a dietician with the Dietitian Association of Australia, said the loss of electrolytes, low blood sugar and damage to the lining of the digestive tract also added to the poorly feeling after too much alcohol.

She said there while there was no magic hangover cure, a sure bet to feel better was drinking plenty of water or an electrolyte-replacement drink and eating some fruit.

“One sure fire way of not getting a hangover is not to overdo it on the alcohol - prevention is better than cure”, she added.

“Have a glass of water in between each alcoholic drink, as one of the reasons for a hangover is dehydration. This method can prevent dehydration and slow yourself down so you don’t drink as much,” said Alsford. (ANI)