The Spa service replenishes and restores after sweat-soaked training sessions.
Concierge IV drips have long been viewed as a hangover remedy — an UNO Reverse card after a long night of drinking. But the service is no longer so one-noted.
“While that's true — it does help people if they did drink too much potentially and they need to feel better quickly — there’s so many more benefits to [IV therapy] that people, I don't think, fully realize yet,” says Rob McAdams, the vice president of operations at IV drip therapy company NutriDrip.
That includes hacking hydration. In the Spa at Equinox Domino and the Equinox Hotel at Hudson Yards, NutriDrip (as well as other providers throughout the country) offers IV drip services that aim to restore and replenish in times of dehydration — including after a long, high-intensity training session, following a workout in the sweltering summer heat, you name it.
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NutriDrip’s services are delivered by nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and physician assistants, who first chat with you about your medical history and review your vitals to ensure you’re able to safely receive IV therapy, says McAdams. (While it’s safe for the majority of people, folks with certain health conditions are ineligible to receive the company’s services, he says.) The intake process takes fewer than 15 minutes, and you’ll be finished with your treatment and out the door in under 60.
According to McAdams, it’s a time-efficient way to recover. “The beautiful thing about IV therapy in relation to, like, hydration specifically is the rapid rehydration that we're able to offer,” he says. “When you're drinking water or electrolytes orally, it takes significantly longer and more fluid volume to actually get your hydration levels up. Versus IV therapy, you're able to get a liter of electrolyte solution directly into the bloodstream for, like, that maximum rehydration.” (Some studies have found that rehydration occurs more rapidly with IV fluid than by oral means, but the difference may be minor, according to the research.)
NutriDrip offers recovery-specific IV drips tailored to individual needs. The most popular for rehydration, the Pre-Game IV is a lactated Ringer’s solution (which replenishes fluids) infused with electrolytes (nutrients that help maintain fluid and blood volume), B vitamins, taurine, l-carnitine, and more in an effort to help restore energy levels, says McAdams. “A lot of people that are dehydrated, one of the first symptoms they're feeling is that low energy, that kind of brain fog feeling,” he notes. “With the hydration, plus some of these nutrients and vitamins, we're able to really get ahead of it and make them feel better very fast.”
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Using an IV drip in the Spa is no different than in a hospital (though it’ll likely feel more relaxing in the plush lounge chairs). The same risks — slight bruising at the catheter insertion site, for example — apply, says McAdams. Though low-risk, other potential adverse effects of IV fluid administration, as a whole, include complications at the injection site, overhydration, acid-base imbalances, and electrolyte abnormalities, according to a review published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport (JSAMS).
To be clear, there currently isn’t strong evidence to support the use of these drips in non-emergency settings, and some research suggests mild to moderate dehydration is treated more effectively with simple oral methods, according to the JSAMS review. But, “sometimes you can get behind and it's hard to get caught back up with, like, normal hydrating practices…drinking Gatorade or just plain water,” says McAdams. In that case, a quick stop at the Spa for a drip (and maybe a Bodywork session) could be just what you need to get back on track.