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Getty Images Facebook Twitter LinkedIn What is vitamin IV therapy?

IV lounges and drip bars have popped up in cities across the country, promising intravenous vitamin infusions that can boost your hydration, give you energy, support immunity and fight the

signs of aging.

Unlike an IV drip administered at a hospital, this new trend claims to help alleviate symptoms associated with hangovers, fatigue, flu, jet lag and dehydration. You can even receive one of

these vitamin intravenous vitamin cocktails at your home or office. 

An IV can be lifesaving for a patient who is severely dehydrated, nutrient deficient or suffering from a massive infection. But many experts say there’s no reason to get what is essentially

an invasive treatment unless a doctor recommends it.

“IV hydration is a great thing for people who really need it,” says Robert H. Shmerling, M.D., senior faculty editor of Harvard Health Publishing, who has researched IV therapy. “When it

comes to these IVs on demand, the short answer is, ‘Buyer beware.’ They are expensive and not clearly helpful in any scientific, proven way.”

While it’s true that an IV can hydrate you faster than drinking fluids, Shmerling says, “that doesn’t necessarily translate into any kind of health benefit.”

If you’re too sick or elderly to keep up with your body’s need for fluids by drinking, then you should be in a medical facility, he adds.

drip?

Proponents say IV therapy is effective because it bypasses the digestive system to deliver hydration, nutrients and minerals directly into your bloodstream. Celebrities including Jane Fonda,

 Lily Tomlin, Adele, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend have used IV therapy as part of their wellness routines.

The claims for IV therapy go beyond simple hydration, however. At most clinics, you can choose from a selection of concoctions, depending on your goal. There are different cocktails to cure

a hangover, boost the immune system, improve energy, help with workout recovery, treat jet lag, improve skin, remove toxins and reverse the signs of aging. Yet, little evidence backs any of

these benefits.