May 2, 2017 – A glass of wine…a relaxing soak in your hot tub…and all your cares just drift away. Sounds dreamy, doesn’t it? Maybe one little old glass won’t be the end of you. But too much alcohol in a hot tub can have unintended consequences that could turn your smile of contentment upside down.

We can think of a long list of benefits you’ll enjoy after sliding into a hot tub. Being lubricated by alcohol won’t necessarily help, and in many cases could hurt real bad. Read on and you’ll see what we mean.

• Soaking in a hot tub makes you perspire; up to one liter in 20 minutes. You detoxify, which is wonderful, but you also dehydrate. (That’s why you should drink water when you soak.) Alcohol has a similar effect, so you double-down on dehydration when you consume your favorite adult beverage in a hot tub. And that can have unpleasant side effects—from dizziness to heart palpitations. Now you’re overcome by too much fun…which isn’t fun at all. In fact, it could be verifiably unhealthy.

• There’s relaxing, and then there’s “way too much” relaxing. That’s what can happen when you mix alcohol with 102-degree water. You could fall into a stupor, which is never a good idea whether you’re in the water or on land. (At least you can’t drown if you pass out on your couch.)

• If you’re not a ballerina on your best day (very few of us are!), when you drink alcohol and soak in a hot tub you can become downright klutzy. On misstep while getting out of your tub and you could hit the deck in a really bad way. We’ll bet that when you decided to relax, doing so in an ambulance on your way to the ER was probably not what you had in mind!

The next time you have the urge to bring a bottle of wine into the hot tub along with your rubber ducky, we hope you’ll think twice.

Here a little ditty to help you remember:

If you plan on soaking, don’t be boozing, we’re not joking, you’ll be bruising.