It’s morning. You feel horrible. You swear you’ll never drink again, ever. You may not leave your bed all day (let’s hope it’s the weekend so you don’t have work). We’ve all been there at one time or another. Hangovers suck.
Well guess what? You are in luck! One company, by the name of Bytox, has created a vitamin-loaded “hangover patch” that can help reduce the effects of hangovers. I was introduced to this method of hangover relief by my girlfriend and her mother, as it was only available at a nice skincare store in town, a place I’d probably never go in there on my own.
I have to admit I was skeptical at first. I tried the patch a few different times to assess how impactful it was on the following day. What I determined may surprise you… or not.
How does it work?
The patch is packed with important vitamins and supplements your body loses when drinking that absorb into your system through your skin. Basically, the patch is replenishing those vitamins as you deplete them through drinking.
Step one: put the patch somewhere on your body with minimal hair 30-45 minutes before you start drinking. Step two: commence drinking, and let the patch do its “magic.” According to the company, leave it on for up to 8 hours after drinking, but there are no additional benefits of leaving it on after 8 hours.
The Experiment
Over the course of a couple of months, I went out several times knowing full-well there was a long night of drinking ahead of me. Some of these nights I wore a vitamin patch and some I did not, so that I could determine if the patch worked or if it was just a placebo.
Night 1
That night we pre-gamed at a friend’s house, barhopped on Broadway, and probably stayed out until 2 am. It was a pretty standard night, nothing too crazy. My drinks consisted of beer and bourbon with water (SpoonTip: order ice water, drink it, and pour bourbon over the rocks. It keeps you drinking water and feeling sophisticated at the same time).
I have to preface this next statement by saying that I drank a lot of water that night, but the next morning I felt like a million bucks. I may have had a slight dry mouth and small headache, but if it wasn’t a Saturday morning I could have gotten up and gone to work without a problem.
Night 2
This night got a little wilder. I threw a tacky Christmas party at my place, and let’s just say it was a really fun time. Drinks consisted of keg beer, peppermint schnapps with chocolate syrup (yea we turned up), and a white Russian.
The next morning I was definitely hungover, but I am convinced the hangover could have been much worse had I not been wearing the patch. I will also say that I drank a lot of water before going to bed, which is crucial to combating dehydration (I can’t stress how important it is to chug a glass or two before bed). However, I was hungover even after wearing the patch. Not end of the world, hating my life hungover, but hungover nonetheless.
My Verdict
Does it help? Yes. Will you never be hungover again by wearing the patch? Negative.
Along with water and Advil, the patch can greatly reduce how bad you feel the next day. If you are in the workforce, I would highly recommend getting yourself one to wear for those weekday work happy hours that sometimes carry over into the night.
However, if you are planning on pounding 20 beers on a game day then heading downtown and throwing down a couple of liquor drinks and a shot or two, the patch will work in your favor, but you are still going to be hungover the next day no matter what.