One of the ultimate hangover cure ‘legends’ is actually true, according to this analysis

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Set the scene. It's Sunday morning/afternoon (if you're lucky) and you've spent the majority of Saturday night and early Sunday morning (as well as your week's wages) in some nightclub or pub in town. It feels like carpenters are hammering the hell out of your head and as for your stomach, it is currently at civil war with your body and you know it's going to win. You ask around for suggestions about how to cure this horrid hangover and most people are firing the same response back at you. Have a pint or two and you'll feel right as rain again. Now, that is the last thing you want to do but it might actually work (to a point, if you ignore the longer term consequences). Two pints of beer have been proven to work better than paracetamol for pain relief and can cut discomfort by 25% according to analysis titled, Analgesic Effects of Alcohol: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Experimental Studies in Healthy Participants, which was published in The Journal of Pain. Medical researchers said blood alcohol content of approximately .08% produced "a small elevation of pain threshold" and a "moderate to large reduction in pain intensity ratings." "Findings suggest that alcohol is an effective analgesic that delivers clinically-relevant reductions in ratings of pain intensity, which could explain alcohol misuse in those with persistent pain despite its potential consequences for long-term health." The analysis observed 18 studies involving over 400 participants who were experiencing chronic pain and the experts are said to be planning another study to find out whether alcohol lowers the anxiety of pain, which then reduces the perception of discomfort, or if it numbs the sensation of pain by affecting the brain receptors.