Introduction
IV Vitamin therapy is not new. The first IV vitamin drips were developed and administered by Dr. John Myers in the 1970s. His research led to the popular Myers’ Cocktail. These types of infusions took from 20 minutes to an hour to administer, and used to take place in a medical office with a licensed medical professional observing the infusion.
They are becoming popular now because they’re a quick fix that’s been made available to the masses now. Companies have set up brick-and-mortar clinics in many cities, and others offer concierge-style services where they bring needles and infusions straight to a client’s home or office. IV drips have also seen a boost in popularity thanks to a celebrity following. Chrissy Teigen, Ariana Grande, Adele, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, John Legend, Jane Fonda, Cindy Crawford and Simon Cowell are a partial list of celebrities who have recently endorsed IV drip therapy. This is now causing lot of curiosity among people and this is about to become a viral trend in 2022.
Intravenous (IV) vitamin drip therapy is an effective way to deliver nutrients, vitamins, and medications directly to the bloodstream. This technique bypasses the digestive system, thus all delivered supplements are available for immediate use. This method results into almost 100% absorption of ingredients resulting in zero wastage. Estimated absorption of vitamins taken orally is about 8%, whereas their absorption through IV therapy is 99.9%. Nutrients are directly added to the bloodstream, when they are administered through IV drip, allowing the body to absorb instantly with optimum efficacy.
Benefits of IV Vitamin Therapy
Using IV drips, vitamins and medication is directly delivered to the cells that need them. Hence they can potentially improve the functions of a wide variety of body systems. People claim wide variety of benefits from IV vitamin therapy. It should be kept in mind, that none of these claims ave been conclusively proven through clinical trials. So you should try this therapy on your patients and form your own opinion about this treatment option. Here are some of the claimed benefits of IV vitamin therapy:
Benefit #1: Improved Wellness and Wellbeing
Wellness is a broad ter, which refers to a collection of factors including your overall health, lifestyle and the environment around you. IV vitamin drips claim to improve physical as well as emotional aspects of one’s health. They seem to provide improvement in conditions like depression and anxiety. When the body has right balance of vitamins and nutrients, people get sick less often, their physical performance improves and they enjoy better mental clarity.
IV vitamin drip therapy improves overall wellness in following ways:
- Improve immunity
- Boost energy levels
- Provides improvement in symptoms of depression and anxiety
- Improve mental clarity and cognitive function
- Reduces occurrence and intensity of migraines
- Provides better immunity to patients of allergies
- Combat fatigue
- Faster wound healing
- Improves strength of muscles and tissues
Benefit #2: Enhanced Appearance and Beauty
The right mix of vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants can improve the appearance and health of skin, hair, and nails. It detoxifies body and rejuvenates appearance wholistically. IV vitamin therapy drips contain antioxidants, which neutralizes free radicals, hence minimizing tissue damage. They contain biotin and glutamine to naturally reduce the appearance of wrinkles, stimulate collagen production, repair UV damage, and help the body remove toxins.
IV drip therapy can work to:
- Neutralize free radicals
- Reduce cell damage and hence slow down the ageing process
- Provide strength to hair, nails, skin, and eyes
- Lightens and Brightens skin
- Reduce blemishes
- Reduce wrinkles
Benefit #3: Improved Athletic Performance
This claim is a bit controversial. Here is the explanation of how IV vitamin therapy can improve athletic performance.
Intense workouts are very tiring on muscles. Regular exercising can also result into gradual build-up of free radicals. IV drips which are rich in antioxidants can flush out these free radicals promoting quicker healing. They can also provide faster rehydration. Amino acids contained in these IV drips help the body during the recovery and muscle building process.
IV drips for athletes can:
- Effective rehydration
- Improve overall performance
- Improve recovery time through quick muscle recovery
- Help in maintaining healthy muscle and tissue
- Neutralize free radicals produced during exercise sessions
- Act as a pre-exercise booster
Benefit #4: Fast Hangover Relief
Excessive alcohol consumption dehydrates body and drains out nutrients from body. This results into headaches and muscle aches. These are the typical symptoms of a hangover.
Symptoms of hangovers include:
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Nausea, vomiting
- Stomach pain
- Dizziness
- Increased heart rate
- Muscle aches
- Sensitivity to light and sound
- Mood swings
IV therapy drips containing electrolytes, vitamins, and anti-inflammatory and anti-nausea medication can quickly rehydrate and detoxify the body and restores nutrients and electrolytes lost during drinking. This results into hangover symptoms disappearing within and hour of IV administration.
Benefit #5: IV Therapy Can Support Weight Loss
IV therapy drips do not directly induce weight loss. They can help in losing weight through following mechanisms:
- Better sleep
- Higher metabolism
- More energy
- Improvement in mood swings
All of these factors influence how body burns fat mass, and they indirectly influence one’s ability to lose weight. These drips are most effective when they are combined with healthy food intake and regular exercises.
Types of IV Vitamin Therapy
The body needs many different types of vitamins and nutrients. Lot of these vitamins and minerals cannot be created within our body and come from external sources, through what we eat and drink. Our metabolic process is inefficient and hence the body does not absorb all the nutrients. IV therapy delivers the same nutrients and vitamins directly to the bloodstream, resulting into almost 100% absorption. There are many different types of IV vitamin therapy treatments available, focussing on different combination of ingredients. Let us look at some of these ingredients in more detail.
Saline Solution – IV Fluids
This sterile solution is made of sodium chloride and water. This is the foundation of every IV drip solution. It provides essential hydration, dilutes medications, and facilitates the delivery of vitamins throughout the body.
Keeping our body properly hydrated provides following health benefits:
- Better cushioned joints
- Better cardiovascular health
- Better endurance
- Improves mood
- Promotes energy production
- Improves concentration and focus
In addition to these benefits, IV solutions ensure that any additional ingradient added will have almost 100% absorption rate, giving instnt nourishment to body.
Vitamin C
Also known as Ascorbic Acid, it helps to maintain systems such as muscles, bones, immune support, and the circulatory system. It is a very important vitamin for aestheticians, since it promotes the biosynthesis of collagen, which is a fundamental part of connective tissues. Hence, it helps in reduction of stretch marks and healing of wounds. It is also a great antioxidant and reduces the damaging effects of free radicals, which contribute to tissue damage and aging.
Glutamine
Glutamine is a building block of protein and a critical part of the immune system. It is a critical fuel source for immune cells like white blood cells and certain intestinal cells. If body does not produce enough glutamine to meet its needs, then it breaks down protein stores, such as muscle, to release more of this amino acid. Lack of Glutamine can also result into compromised function of the immune system. Glutamine supplements have the ability to improve health and decrease infectios.
Glutamine is also one of the building amino acids of Glutathione – an antioxidant that plays a crucial role in preventing cellular damage. This antioxidant is responsible for removal of toxins from the body. Studies suggest that it also slows down aging.
B-Complex
B complex vitamins are a combination of vitamins which are part of the same family. They provide some important functions like cardiovascular support, helping the body convert food into energy, immune function, and more. They also play a major role in improving health of skin, hair, and nails. They fight free radicals in the body that contribute to aging, resulting in an overall younger appearance. The B Complex Vitamins Are:
- B1 (thiamine)
- B2 (riboflavin)
- B3 (niacin)
- B5 (pantothenic acid)
- B6 (pyridoxine)
- B7 (biotin)
- B12 (cyanocobalamin)
Because the B vitamin complex is so versatile and performs so many functions throughout the body, it is featured in many IV drip formulas.
Vitamin B7 (Biotin)
Biotin, is part of the B-vitamin complex. It provides strength and improves appearance of the skin, hair, and nails. Hence it is often used in aesthetic treatments as a supplements. Biotin cannot be absorbed through the skin. hence IV therapy is one of the only ways to quickly restore normal levels of biotin.
Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin)
Also a part of B-vitamin complex, it is important for maintaining optimal neurological function. It improves memory and concentration.
Glutathione
Glutathione is naturally found in every human body. It is made up of 3 amino acids namely: L-cysteine, glycine, and L-glutamate. It is one of the best known antioxidants. This molecule is gaining lot of popularity due to its ability to impact melanogenesis. It is being widely popularised as the only full body skin lightening treatment.
Glutathione is also used for anti ageing treatments, since its one of the most powerful antioxidants known till date. It helps in neutralizing free radicals which are responsible for cell damage, leading to the appearance of wrinkles, dull skin, and lower energy levels associated with ageing.
Amino acids
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and make up 75% of the body. Amino acids are involved in almost every body function, including:
- Growth and development
- Healing and repair
- Normal digestion
- Providing energy for the body
- Regulating moods by producing hormones
- Producing neurotransmitters
- Assisting in the creation of muscles and connective tissue
- Assisting in the synthesis of skin
A balance of different amino acids is required for optimal health and well-being. Our body does not store amino acids, so they must be ingested or produced daily, otherwise, the proteins in muscle and tissue will start to degrade.
Magnesium
Magnesium is a mineral that is responsible for regulation of various functions in the body. Healthy Levels of Magnesium:
- Maintains nerve and muscle function
- Maintains bone strength
- Provides immune system support
- Regulates heartbeat
- Regulates blood glucose (blood sugar) levels
- Regulates blood pressure
- Boosts energy levels
- Aids in the production of proteins
Because magnesium is involved in so many functions throughout the body, this mineral is included in many of IV therapies. IV therapy can quickly and efficiently correct the levels of magnesium in the body and prevent health complications caused by prolonged deficiency.
Selenium
Selenium is an essential mineral that plays a critical role in reproduction, thyroid hormone metabolism, DNA synthesis, and protection from oxidative damage and infection. Studies have suggested that selenium may also help to:
- prevent HIV from progressing to AIDS
- reduce the risk of miscarriage
- protect against asthma
Risks and Possible Drawbacks
There are also a few risks to be aware of.
- Currently this therapy is unregulated, so there can be drastic differences in quality of these drips manufactured by different companies.
- When Vtamins are consumed using IV drips, then there is a much higher chance of overdose as none of the vitamins are lost lost during the absorption process or excreted through urine. If patients consume too much quantity of these vitamins, then it can be dangerous. For example, consuming too much Vitamin C can lead to stomach issues like cramps and diarrhea.
- For one, these clinics aren’t regulated, so there may be differences in quality and cleanliness from clinic to clinic. There’s also the possibility that you’ll be given vitamins and nutrients in too-high concentrations, which can be dangerous. Compared with oral vitamins, this can happen more easily with IV drips, as none of the vitamins are lost during the absorption process or excreted through urine. It’s difficult to predict how your body will respond. Supermodel Kendall Jenner was hospitalized in 2018 after having a bad reaction to an IV drip (though no word on why her body reacted that way). Vitamin D overdose could lead to a buildup of calcium in your blood, which may bring on nausea, weakness, and increased urination.
- People who have allergies should be extra careful and should check all the ingradients of the vitamin cocktail before the IV is administered.
- People with heart condition should also take extra precautions. Taking in too many extra electrolytes can lead to heart arrhythmias. So they should check the contents of the IV before going for it.
- If your patient has any kidney disease, you may need to monitor intake of minerals, including sodium, potassium, and phosphorus.
- If your patient has any medical conditions or are on other vitamin supplements or medications, then you should make sure that contents of the IV cocktail do not negetively interact with something they are already taking.
Conclusion
All in all, IV Vitamin therapy is one of the most trending treatments of current time. Although there is no clinical proof of the efficacy of the treatment, it is still becoming viral due to celebrity endorsement and word of mouth. We would recommend you to try this with some of your regular patients and see the results. Follow your experience and form your own opinion about this latest craze in the world of cosmetology. Who knows… your might end up becoming one of the strongest proponents of this treatments……