5 Bath Recipes to Soothe Hangovers

After a night of drinking, you can feel miserable. Your headaches, you feel nauseous and your body is totally out of whack.  You've probably been told to drink a lot of water and a host of other hangover remedies and cures. 

Getting inside a hot tub of water is an excellent way to ease some of the symptoms of a hangover. Hot water combined with certain bath ingredients can be calming and can also help with soothing an upset stomach or help a headache melt away.

What follows are five bath recipes to soothe a hangover. While hot water can be very relaxing, don’t make the water too hot. The bath shouldn’t be above normal body temperature.  Also if you have diabetes, high blood pressure or some other medical treatment, make sure that a hot bath, as well as the essential oils used, are safe for you. 

Part of your distress is caused by dehydration, so while soaking, sip water with lemon (which is detoxifying) or coconut water, which has electrolytes and other things that a dehydrated body needs after a night of indulgence.

Some of the recipes are designed to help you sweat out toxins, so you should drink water before, during and after the bath. You might also want a cool hand or face towel on hand to place on your forehead during the bath if you feel your body getting too hot.  

Bathtub Gintle Soak

Ingredients:

• 5 drops fennel oil
• 3 drops juniper oil
• 8 drops rosemary oil
• 1,000 mg (2 tbsp) ascorbic acid vitamin c crystals

Directions:

Fill the bath with water.   Pour ingredients into the bath water and swish around.

This recipe is adapted from Water Magic by Mary Muryn. The author mentioned that during the Roaring Twenties bootleggers made illegal liquor in their bathtubs, hence the term “Bathtub Gin.” 

While some of the bathtub gin might have been distilled and fermented in tubs during the Prohibition Era, the term probably came about because the opening of the jugs used to ferment the gin were too large for regular taps.  In order to add water, the jugs were filled using a larger bathtub tap.

It’s fitting that juniper oil is used in this bath recipe since the cheap bathtub gin was often flavored with juniper berries. 

Detoxifying Soak

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Epson salt
• ½ cup baking soda
• 2 tbsp mustard powder or wasabi powder
• 2 drops peppermint oil
• 2 drops eucalyptus oil
• 2 drops rosemary oil

Directions:

Mix ingredients together and then pour in under running water.

Hangover Healing Bath

Ingredients:

• Juniper oil
• Geranium leaf oil
• Lavender oil
• Cardamom seed oil

Directions:

After filling the bathtub with warm water, stir oils around to mix the oils and then climb inside and relax.

Headache Relief Soak

 Ingredients:

• 2 drops lavender oil
• 3 drops rosemary oil
• 3 drops lemon oil

Directions:

Fill the tub and add the oils. Mix well. You can also add Epsom salts to help disperse the oils.

Invigorating & Balancing Bath

Ingredients:

• 4 drops lemon oil
• 2 drops fennel oil
• 2 drops lavender oil

Directions:

Add oils to the water after filling the bathtub and swish around thoroughly.

About the Ingredients

• Baking soda also helps detoxify the body.
• Cardamom oil aids the digestive system and eases stomach discomfort and also produces sweating to aid in detoxification.
• Epsom salts contain sulfates that flush out toxins from the body.  In addition, Epsom salts help ease headaches.
• Eucalyptus oil is stimulating and is good for sore muscles, circulation and to relieve mental fatigue.
• Fennel oil is restorative and balancing and a detoxifier.
• Geranium oil promotes balance, calm and tranquility. Note: Floral scents can make some people with hangovers feel sicker.  
• Juniper oil is restorative, refreshing and harmonizing and also helps one overcome fatigue
• Lemon oil is uplifting and invigorating, as well as detoxifying.
• Mustard or wasabi powder is good for increasing circulation and stimulating the sweat glands and flush out toxins.
• Peppermint oil is invigorating and helps reduce mental fatigue.
• Rosemary oil is rejuvenating, stimulating and helps alleviate stress and eases headaches
• Vitamin C crystals help disperse the oils, but also neutralize chlorine and chloramine found in some tap water. Vitamin C also helps stimulate the production of collagen and promote healthy skin.