Vitamin IVDrips.

The honest version of IV therapy

IV vitamin therapy is one of the most heavily oversold treatments in aesthetics, so it is worth being straightforward about what it is.

A cannula is placed in a vein, and a bag of sterile fluid containing a formulation of vitamins, minerals and electrolytes runs into your bloodstream over a period of time. Because the digestive system is bypassed, absorption is not a limiting factor, and blood levels of the contents rise faster and higher than the same substances taken orally.

That is genuinely useful in specific circumstances. It is much less useful in a healthy person who eats reasonably and absorbs normally, because your body has efficient ways of excreting what it does not need. We would rather say that clearly than let you assume otherwise.

Where it makes real sense

Rehydration, when you are genuinely depleted from illness, heat, exertion or a period of poor intake.

Documented deficiency, particularly where absorption is the problem rather than intake. Conditions affecting the gut, previous surgery affecting absorption, and certain medications all make oral supplementation unreliable.

As part of a wider plan, where blood work has actually shown something and the IV is addressing that finding rather than a general sense of feeling run down.

Where we will manage your expectations

If you feel tired, tired is a symptom with a long list of causes and most of them are not vitamin deficiencies. Sleep, thyroid function, iron, mood, and how much you are actually eating all matter more. An IV may make you feel better for a period, and it will not address a cause we have not found.

If you are hoping for better skin or hair, correcting a genuine deficiency helps and adding vitamins to normal levels does not.

Screening is not a formality

Putting fluid directly into someone’s circulation is a medical act. Volume matters in anyone with a heart or kidney condition. Specific components matter in specific conditions, and there are formulations we will not give to certain people.

Your history, your medications, your allergies and, where relevant, your kidney function are reviewed before anything is prepared. That review is overseen by Alex Dinovich, FNP-PHC, our Nurse Practitioner. If we do not think a drip is appropriate for you, you will be told so, and if we think you need blood work first, we will say that too.

Who this suits, and who it does not

It suits you if you are dehydrated or depleted, if you have a documented deficiency or an absorption problem, if you have been screened and cleared, and if your expectations are realistic.

It does not suit you if you have heart failure, significant kidney disease or a fluid restriction, if you are allergic to a component, or if you are acutely unwell with something that needs a doctor rather than a clinic. We do not treat in pregnancy without a clear clinical reason.

At the appointment

You are screened and consented, then seated comfortably. A registered nurse places a cannula, usually in the arm, and the infusion is started at a controlled rate. You are monitored while it runs, and you can read, work or rest.

Expect a brief sting on insertion, and possibly a cool sensation along the vein as the fluid runs. Tell the nurse immediately if you feel unwell, itchy, breathless or if the site becomes painful.

Afterwards

The cannula is removed and pressure is applied briefly. Bruising at the site is possible. You can drive and return to your day.

We will tell you honestly whether we think repeating it is worthwhile, and in a number of cases the more useful next step is blood work rather than another bag.