Most people probably have pretty solid morning after routines by now: find phone, seek out water, damage control of any drunken texts, rummage for paracetamol and swear to never board the tequila train ever, EVER again.
And a day (or two... We’ve all been there) when our heads have stopped pounding and we’ve apologised to our livers, we'll go about our lives having seemingly forgotten about that time we were too hungover to open both eyes at once.
What you probably didn’t know though, is that the hangover struggle doesn’t stop there. Oh no.
Remember your skin? You know, that thing you forget to moisturise, never remove make up from and subject to botched hair removal jobs? Your body’s actual largest organ? Well it turns out that can take a matter of weeks, WEEKS, for your skin to recover from a hangover. Ouch.
Hollywood dermatologist, Dr Lancer, told Metro.co.uk: ‘It takes about two to four weeks for your body to regulate after a night of drinking’.
Pretty scary, right? He explained: ‘Alcohol is a diuretic that dehydrates the entire body – as is evidenced by the intense thirst of a hangover.’
If you’re wondering what a diuretic is, it’s a substance that promotes urine production. So needing to pee more when you drink is legit a thing, and more directly linked to that desperate morning search for a pint of water than you might have realised.
‘A glass or two of red wine with dinner now and then is not a problem,’ he said. ‘But regular, habitual, excessive drinking is. And if you have rosacea (reddening flushing), sensitive skin or acne, excessive alcohol can exacerbate flareups’.
And on the off chance that you’re not quite ready to put down the prosecco for good, there is a solution – yep, it’s water.
Aside from skin care such as exfoliating to increase circulation and moisturising to, well, add moisture, Dr Lancer recommends upping your water intake when you’re on a night out.
He said: ‘Staying hydrated is essential for beautiful skin and good health. You need it to digest food, circulate blood and flush out toxins – to name but a few functions. So, it’s a good strategy to drink a glass of water every time you have an alcoholic beverage.’
Water with every single alcoholic beverage might not feel like the most attainable thing in the world, (does the tonic with my gin count?) but throwing a few glasses of H2O into the mix of your next night out definitely cant hurt. Your morning after might be a little less painful, and your skin will thank you in the long run.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.