We’ve heard it all before: Just have another drink! Take two Tylenol! Bite into a piece of ginger with a side of coffee while taking a nice hot bath. The truth is: the best way to ease your hangover is to stop it before it starts.  Barring the painfully obvious solution of simply knowing your limits, there are some preventative measures you can take to alleviate the symptoms of a hangover.

Drink as much water as possible. Alcohol is a diuretic, so all of those rushed trips to the bathroom weren’t just about debriefing your friends or escaping your date but more so about dehydrating your system. Stagnate your drinks with glasses of water and it’ll reduce the pain of that all too familiar headache in the morning.

Sustenance! Food provides a cushion in your intestines that slows down the effects of alcohol.

-Another drink only prolongs your pain and Tylenol’s active ingredient-acetaminophen-shouldn’t be combined with a liver that’s working overtime to cleanse your system. Try ibuprofen for the post-booze headache instead, if you must take something.

-Sports drinks are no better for your hangover than water.

Prevention is, by far, the best cure for a hangover. So if you feel that a night of overindulgence is inevitable or that you won’t drink enough water to keep yourself feeling good, consider donning a Bytox patch. If applied at least 45 minutes before alcohol consumption, Bytox works to replenish your body with the vitamins and minerals that are lost during a night of drinking. Our testers tried it and found a significant reduction in the symptoms associated with a hangover. And at $14.95 for a 5-pack, you might find yourself saving a couple of bucks compared to money you’d drop on pills, sports drinks and ginger ale otherwise.

The real question surrounding the ‘hangover cure’ isn’t how to but instead, should we? After you get over the initial pain that a burn causes, aren’t you glad you know to take your hand away from the stove? In essence, hangovers are our bodies’ way of telling us that too much alcohol is bad for the business of living. It can have negative affects on our liver and in some cases, can lead to addiction. In the end it always comes back to being honest with yourself and knowing your limits.