What To Expect When Getting IV Therapy

According to Nationwide Children's Hospital, IV (intravenous) therapy is a technique that administers different kinds of fluids such as medication, vitamins, or blood by inserting a needle through a cannula into the vein and attaching a drip with a plastic tube to the other end. The most basic and usual type of IV contains vitamins, drugs, and essential nutrients to give your body instant energy and get rid of radicals and toxins (via Bounce Hydration). Upon performing a thorough examination, a physician determines what kind of IV therapy is good for you. 

Per Healthline, a benefit of IV therapy is that it offers quick administration of drugs that cannot be taken orally — for instance, insulin, chemotherapy, certain strong antibiotics, antifungals, growth hormones, etc. Besides, IV therapy is an excellent way to control the medication dose, especially if there's a risk of anaphylactic shock, stroke, or poisoning, reports Healthline. Bounce Hydration also reveals that IV therapy has benefits to achieving your weight loss goals, improving your heart health, and relieving anxiety.

Healthline reports that during an IV infusion session, you may have multiple needles stuck in the body, such as in the groin, arms, legs, neck, and chest, to administer the fluids. With every session, you'll have a new set of needles stuck in these regions. Other times, the healthcare staff may insert a port in the skin using a surgical method. This is particularly useful if you need multiple IV therapy infusions and want to avoid repeated needle insertion, explains Healthline. The port is surgically removed after the IV infusion treatments end. 

It is possible that you might notice some kind of allergic reaction to a drug, muscular pain at the site of the needle insertion, difficulty in breathing, redness, or swelling (via Healthline). In addition, there's a risk of leakage in IV therapy equipment in which the drug may enter into the neighboring tissues. For these reasons, the procedure should be performed by a qualified professional. 

During the IV therapy session, a nurse will regularly check in to make sure there are no issues. You may feel a tiny pinch when the cannula is removed at the end of the session, and there may be a small mark that could bleed a bit (via Nationwide Children's Hospital).