Some things people bring to a med spa need a doctor rather than a treatment room. Some things people bring to a med spa are not aesthetic problems and need a doctor rather than a treatment room. See a physician or a dermatologist, not us, if you have a mole or a mark that has changed shape, colour or size, or that bleeds, itches or will not heal; a sore anywhere that has been there more than three weeks; a rash you cannot explain; a patch of skin that is newly numb, hard or ulcerated; sudden hair loss in patches, or hair loss alongside fatigue or weight change; or swelling, heat and spreading redness that could be an infection. And if you have had filler treatment anywhere and the area becomes white or mottled, severely painful, or your vision changes, that is an emergency — telephone us immediately if we treated you, and go to an emergency room if you cannot reach somebody within minutes. We would far rather you rang a doctor and never rang us at all.
An infusion of sterile fluid, with electrolytes and sometimes water-soluble vitamins, is delivered into a vein across about forty minutes. If you are dehydrated — after a stomach illness, after a hard endurance event, after a long flight or a heavy night — this restores your fluid volume faster than drinking does, and most people feel meaningfully better within the hour. That effect is real, it is well understood, and it is the honest reason to have one.
What we will not tell you is that it detoxifies anything. Your liver and your kidneys do that continuously and there is no toxin an infusion removes. Nor will we tell you that it boosts your immune system, prevents illness, cures a hangover as a medical matter, improves your skin, aids weight loss, or increases your energy if your levels are already normal. Those are the claims this industry runs on and none of them is supported.
There is one thing worth understanding about vitamins in a drip. Water-soluble vitamins that your body does not currently need are filtered out by the kidneys and excreted within hours. If you are deficient in something, correcting it helps and is worth doing — usually orally, and after a blood test that established the deficiency. If you are not deficient, a high-dose infusion produces expensive urine. We would rather say that than sell you a menu of branded drips, which is why there is no such menu here.
When an infusion is genuinely useful
Four honest indications, and they are narrower than the industry's list.
Actual dehydration
After a vomiting or diarrhoeal illness, a long endurance event, prolonged heat exposure, or a heavy night. Restoring fluid volume rapidly makes people feel considerably better and it works. If you cannot keep fluids down at all, or you are unwell rather than merely dry, the correct destination is a doctor rather than a clinic like this one.
A documented deficiency
Where a blood test has shown that you are low in something and oral replacement is not working or not tolerated. That is a medical decision made with the medical director, and frequently the answer is that tablets would do the job perfectly well and more cheaply.
Difficulty absorbing orally
Some conditions and some surgery genuinely impair absorption, in which case intravenous replacement makes sense. This is managed with your physician rather than decided at a front desk.
Because it feels nice, honestly
Forty minutes in a quiet room with a blanket, being looked after, does make people feel better. If that is what you are buying, we would rather you bought it knowing that than believing you are detoxifying something.
Claims we will not make
Four things this treatment is sold with, and what is actually known about each.
It does not detoxify
There is no toxin an infusion removes. Your liver metabolises and your kidneys excrete, continuously, and neither is helped by adding fluid beyond what they need. The word detox in a wellness context has no medical meaning, and anybody using it to sell you something is relying on you not knowing that.
It does not boost immunity
High-dose vitamin infusions do not prevent or shorten illness in people who are not deficient. Some of the underlying research has been misrepresented for decades. If you are unwell, the useful interventions are rest, fluid, and a doctor if you need one.
It does not cure a hangover
It rehydrates you, and dehydration is one component of feeling terrible after drinking. It does not address the rest, it does not protect your liver, and it is not a reason to drink more than you otherwise would. Rehydration helps; a cure it is not.
It is not a weight-loss or skin treatment
There is no infusion that reduces body fat and none that improves skin quality other than by correcting genuine dehydration or a genuine deficiency. Clinics selling drips for either are making claims that the evidence does not support.
Safety, and who should not have one
A cannula in a vein is a medical procedure, however pleasant the room is.
The real risks
Bruising and discomfort at the site, occasional inflammation of the vein, and rarely infection. Fainting during cannulation happens and is managed. Every infusion here is placed by a clinician and somebody remains in the room throughout rather than looking in.
Fluid overload
The serious one. In anybody with heart failure or reduced kidney function, adding fluid volume is genuinely dangerous. This is why there is a medical screening and why an infusion is not something to be bought at a counter.
Too much of some vitamins is harmful
Fat-soluble vitamins accumulate, and some water-soluble ones cause nerve problems in large repeated doses. More is not better. We use conservative, standard formulations and we do not offer high-dose infusions of anything on request.
We will not treat
Anybody with heart failure, kidney disease or uncontrolled high blood pressure without their physician's involvement; anybody pregnant; anybody currently unwell, who should see a doctor; anybody who has been drinking that day; and anybody who wants an infusion for a claimed benefit we have said on this page is not real.
IV Hydration Therapy in western Queens
Fluid and, where appropriate, vitamins delivered into a vein across forty minutes. Genuinely useful when somebody is dehydrated. Not a detox, not an immune treatment, and not better than drinking water.
Every treatment here starts the same way: a full hour at a table in a room with no treatment couch in it, a proper medical history, your skin looked at in daylight, and then a plain statement of what we think would achieve what you described. You are told what it costs, how many sessions it usually takes, how long it lasts, what the recovery looks like and what can go wrong — on paper, to take home and read somewhere other than a treatment room. If the honest answer is a different treatment, or nothing, or a dermatologist, that is what you get instead, and it costs exactly the same.
Aesthetic treatment is elective medicine, and this page is not medical advice for you. Aesthetic treatment is elective, it is medicine wherever it breaks the skin, and nothing on this website is medical advice for you in particular. We do not diagnose disease. Every treatment here begins with a consultation and a medical history, because your health, your medication, your skin type and what you have had done before all change what is safe and what is sensible. Some people are told no. Being told no is a normal outcome of a consultation here rather than a failure of one, and it costs exactly the same as being told yes.
No before-and-after photographs, and no promised outcome. There are no before-and-after photographs on this website and there never will be. Every set you have seen somewhere else was chosen from a much larger pile, and the second picture is usually taken in different light, at a different angle, at a different time of day, often with makeup and frequently after retouching. Even an entirely honest pair shows you what happened to somebody else's face. What we publish instead is what a treatment typically changes, by roughly how much, how long it lasts, how many sessions it usually takes and how often people are disappointed. We do not guarantee an outcome, we cannot, and anybody who does is either guessing or selling.
The risks, plainly. Every treatment on this site has side effects and some carry real risks. The common ones are minor and short-lived — redness, swelling, tenderness, bruising, a day or two of looking like you have had something done. The uncommon ones matter more: burns, blistering and long-lasting pigment change from light-based treatment, which is a greater risk on deeper skin tones and on recently tanned skin; infection anywhere the skin is broken; and lumps, asymmetry and, very rarely, a blocked blood vessel from injectable filler, which is the one true emergency in this field. We screen for what makes each of these more likely, we tell you your own risk rather than the average one, and we decline to treat when the answer should be no.
What a med spa does not treat. We treat the appearance of healthy skin, hair and body. We do not diagnose or treat disease. If you bring us a mole, a changing mark, an unexplained rash, a sore that will not heal, skin that has become hard or numb, psoriasis, eczema, an autoimmune skin condition, or hair loss that came on suddenly or in patches, what you will get is the name of a doctor rather than a treatment plan. Aesthetic treatment applied on top of an undiagnosed skin problem can mask it, delay the diagnosis and occasionally make it worse. We would rather lose the booking.
Questions
IV Hydration Therapy — the questions we are asked most
Does an IV drip detox my body?
No. There is no toxin that an infusion removes. Your liver and kidneys perform that job continuously and adding fluid beyond what they need does not help them. Detox has no medical meaning in this context, and anywhere using the word to sell you an infusion is relying on you not knowing that. We will not use it.
Will it boost my immune system?
No. High-dose vitamin infusions have not been shown to prevent or shorten illness in people who are not deficient, and some of the research cited for this claim has been misrepresented for a very long time. If you are unwell, rest and fluids help and a doctor helps more.
Is it better than drinking water?
Faster, when you are genuinely dehydrated — that is the whole of the advantage and it is a real one. For somebody who is not dehydrated, drinking water works exactly as well, costs nothing and does not involve a needle. We will tell you which of those you are.
Will it help my hangover?
It rehydrates you, and dehydration is one component of feeling terrible after drinking, so people do feel better. It does not cure a hangover, it does not protect your liver, and it should not be part of anybody's plan for drinking more than they otherwise would.
Are the vitamins worth having?
If a blood test has shown you are deficient in something, correcting it is worth doing — usually orally, which is cheaper and works. If you are not deficient, water-soluble vitamins you do not need are excreted within hours. That is the honest position, and it is why there is no menu of branded drips on this page.
Do I need a consultation first?
Yes, before a first infusion. Fluid volume is genuinely dangerous in anybody with heart failure or reduced kidney function, and that has to be established by somebody medical rather than assumed. It is a short appointment and it is not negotiable.
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Book a consultation
Pick a clinician and an hour from the calendar — it shows only the times each of them genuinely has free. A consultation is a full hour at a table with no treatment couch in the room, and it costs $85, or $120 with the medical director. If you go ahead, that comes off your first treatment. If we tell you the answer is nothing, or a dermatologist, it costs exactly the same.