It’s hard not to be a party pooper here! But in this article, I want to explain why you shouldn’t really drink alcohol when you’re in your inflatable hot tub.

It’s a nice idea, isn’t it? A lazy soak in your hot tub, with a cold beer that hits the spot. Or a romantic evening with a glass or two of wine.

But as attractive as those images are, it’s important that you know the problems that can arise if you do choose to drink alcohol when you’re in your portable hot tub – or even before you get in. When you know the risks, then you can decide if they are worth taking. After all, knowledge is power.

1. Dehydration

You might not feel it, because you’re in the water, but inflatable hot tubs make you sweat. A lot. And when you sweat, you dehydrate. This means you are losing more water from your body than you are taking in.

Normally, this isn’t too much of a problem, as long as you have some drinking water nearby so you can keep drinking and rehydrate – or you drink some water as soon as you get out of the hot tub.

When you’re drinking alcohol in your hot tub, however, you are increasing the symptoms and hazards of dehydration.

That’s because there are two issues which link dehydration with alcohol:

dehydration increases the effects of alcohol, which means you get drunk faster.
alcohol increases dehydration because it causes a greater loss of fluids and electrolytes from your body.

Therefore, when you’re in your inflatable hot tub, enjoying a glass or two of your favorite alcoholic drink, you are increasing the amount and the rate of dehydration. And while for most of us that means we need to top up with some water, when you are drinking alcohol, your judgment ability decreases. This means you can dehydrate quite seriously without realizing how bad it is becoming.

In its mildest form, the symptoms to look out for are:

a dry mouth
tiredness
thirst
a headache
dizziness
light headedness

In extreme cases, dehydration causes:

extreme thirst
shrivelled skin that doesn’t ‘bounce back’ when pinched between thumb and forefinger
sunken eyes
low blood pressure
rapid breathing
vomiting
increased heart rate
incoherent speech or slurring of words
sudden sleep

The problem is that these symptoms come on quickly before you realize what’s happening. Especially when you are under the influence of alcohol.

For this reason alone, we suggest you think very carefully before you take a beer or a glass of wine to your hot tub.

If you go ahead, then make sure you are drinking water as well – or better still a sports drink which has electrolytes in it.

If you’re in your hot tub and you start to feel that something is not ‘right’, get out of the hot tub immediately and drink a sports drink or some water. If the symptoms persist or get worse, seek medical help straight away.

2. Heat Exhaustion

When you’re in your inflatable hot tub, the heat of the water increases the size of your blood vessels and raises your body temperature. Guess what other substance has the exact same effects on your body? Alcohol.

That drink of beer, wine or other alcoholic beverage is raising your body temperature even higher. And when you mix that with the same effect from the hot water, the result is heat exhaustion.

Heat exhaustion is basically your body overheating, due to exposure to high temperatures. If it’s left untreated, then heat exhaustion can quickly lead to heatstroke, which is a life-threatening condition.

Therefore, you need to be aware of the possible signs and symptoms which show that you have heat exhaustion:

headache
nausea
confusion
dizziness
fatigue
fainting
extreme sweating
rapid heartbeat

If you show any of these symptoms while drinking in your hot tub, get out immediately. Stop drinking the alcohol at once, and cool your body down by drinking water and taking a long, cool shower.

3. Passing Out

We all know how wonderfully relaxing it is in an inflatable hot tub. Soaking in the hot bubbling waters, leaning back and switching off while the bubble jets do their thing. Your muscles are relaxed, your mind switches off – you could so easily drift off to sleep.

But you know you can’t because you’re in a hot tub, with deep water, and so you stay awake or even get out of the hot tub.

Add some alcohol to that mix, with the resultant lowering of your judgment, and you’re potentially dicing with danger.

As we all probably know, drinking alcohol also helps us relax. It relaxes your muscles, it relaxes your mind. It makes you feel very sleepy.

When you combine these two sleep inducers – being in a hot tub and alcohol – you run a very real risk of passing out and sinking underwater.

And if you go under water while you’re unconscious from drinking, there’s a chance you’re going to drown or suffer from a serious near-drowning related injury.

4. Wild Behavior

Alcohol is a great at lowering inhibitions. Think of all the things you have done under the influence that you would never do when cold stone sober. Often, when you look back, quite a few of those things were embarrassing at best and sometimes even downright dangerous.

Now, doing crazy things when you’re in your inflatable hot tub, and under the influence of alcohol, can be very dangerous and could even lead to an accidental death.

And it might not even be you who is harmed. If you do something dangerous and end up hurting someone else, the consequences could be grave. Also, think about what could happen if you were responsible for looking after a child. Being under the influence means you may lose your ability to look after children properly, and something terrible might happen.

So drinking alcohol in a hot tub, and the crazy behaviour it can lead to, not only has a negative effect on you, it can also have a negative – even terrible – effect on others who are those around you.

5. Broken Glass

When glass is cold and is quickly exposed to hot temperatures, it cracks and shatters. So if you have a cold beer bottle straight out of the refrigerator or ice box and you have it in the hot tub, there’s a risk the bottle is going to shatter into your hot tub.

Apart from the possibility of being cut by the glass, as well as maybe puncturing or ripping the vinyl of the hot tub, this means you are going to have to stop using the hot tub immediately and deal with the broken glass.

What this really means is that you are going to have to drain the hot tub, clean it – maybe repair it – and then refill it. Then you’re going to have to heat the fresh water up and add sanitizer. You’re looking at many hours of work all for the sake of that bottle of beer.

This point about the potential danger of having a bottle or glass in your inflatable hot tub means that no matter what you are drinking – even water – you should always use a plastic bottle or shatterproof plastic glass, so there is absolutely no danger of broken glass in your tub.

Conclusion

I’m sorry if this has been a scary article to read, but we felt it’s important you realise the problems associated with drinking alcohol in your inflatable hot tub.

If you decide to go ahead, and have the occasional glass or wine or a beer, then please think about everything you’re doing:

Don’t drink in your inflatable hot tub when you’re tired
Don’t have more than one drink
Don’t drink in direct sunlight
Don’t use a glass or bottle that can shatter
Never drink if you are looking after children
Don’t use your inflatable hot tub if you are already drunk – even a little drunk
Always drink responsibly
Please stay safe

Do Inflatable Hot Tubs And Alcohol Mix?