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DID YOU ENJOY some drinks last night? Do you feel today like your brain is a giant egg yolk waiting to burst all over your desk?

Well, the world’s newest hangover cure – intravenous rehydration, plus vitamins – has now arrived in Dublin.

The catch is, it costs €200. At least.

The “IV hydration treatments” on offer at Venus Medical in Dundrum claim to “reduce the time-consuming recoveries from hangovers” as well as other things like jet lag.

There are five levels of treatment on offer, with the cheapest at €199 and the most expensive at €349. (That’s for the ”Royal Flush deluxe infusion”, which boasts “Taking life to the max calls for maximum recovery”.)

Shutterstock / CNK02 Shutterstock / CNK02 / CNK02

Basically, each one is intravenous saline solution plus one or more additives. The marketing materials say that it’s better than glugging water or Lucozade, claiming:

When a person consumes water or energy beverages, the body only absorbs approximately 55% as it passes through the digestive tract. Introducing rehydration and wellness agent via IV delivery, the body absorbs 100%.

So, does it work?

Well, various journalists have tried other IV therapies as freebies in the name of research. Correspondents from the Guardian, Tech Insider and Gizmodo all reported feeling if not totally recovered then, well, a bit better.

The Irish Independent’s Deirdre Reynolds tried Venus Medical’s offering and wrote that she left the clinic with “a spring in her step” after polishing off most of a bottle of wine the night before.

Ben Sutherland Ben Sutherland

However, some medical sources have remained unimpressed. “There’s no scientific support that these treatments do anything,” NYU toxicologist Lewis S Nelson told the New York Times. Another doctor told the paper:

It’s basically just hydrating people. They infuse a one-litre bag of normal saline — for $200. A bag of normal saline costs $4. It’s saltwater.

Dr Roshini Rajapksa writes for Health.com that intravenous rehydration ”can speed up your recovery from a bad hangover”, but comes to the conclusion:

Next time you’re hungover, try an oral dose of ibuprofen, a big glass of water or a nap. And if you’re frequently using IVs for mornings after, you need to take a look at your drinking.

Right then.

h/t LovinDublin

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