Cocktails of a different kind
What we realised is that there are lots of people using IV for many reasons other than curing a hangover. From cancer patients to people with autoimmune diseases such as Lyme and Chrohn's Disease are able to benefit from IV.
From what started as a silly conversation after a night on the wines turned pretty quickly into a business concept that would ultimately bring to Newcastle its very first IV Lounge.
Newcastle can now officially join the likes of San Fran, Miami and Tokyo claiming to have our very own IV Lounge – a space that you can unwind and recharge in - literally.
Whilst some of you may be rolling your eyes, yeah we’ve seen the pics of Rihanna, Miley and other celebs all hooked up, the IV Lounge is way more than just a place to cure a nasty hangover.
Chatting with owners Grace & Simone, the ladies took us through the IV concept and broke down some of those misconceptions around IV treatment and just who can and should be using it.
“What we realised is that there are lots of people using IV for many reasons other than curing a hangover. Cancer patients to people with autoimmune diseases are benefiting from IV treatments. Basically, anyone with malabsorption issues like Coeliac, Chrohn's and Lyme Disease, even dairy intolerance and diabetes can benefit.” Grace said.
“Quite a few families have reached out to us saying that they have been travelling to Sydney and Brisbane to get IV treatments because it hasn’t been available in Newcastle, and paying a lot more for it.”
“Generally speaking it’s quite expensive in Australia, so we wanted to keep our costs more in line with the American prices and I think everyone’s a bit amazed. “
Simone also explained, “When Grace and I started talking about the idea, the concept wasn’t to charge people loads of money, especially those who are sick and need one every week, we didn’t want to be charging people $400 or $500. We’ve tried to keep it affordable and it’s been a really interesting journey.”
“We’ve already had feedback saying it’s so nice to come here and feel that not everyone is internally eye-rolling it, and people have really connected with one another, either because they’ve got the same doctor or they have a similar health condition. So it’s turned into this nice little community.”
So who can benefit from having an IV
Simone - Anyone really, whether you’re feeling a little fatigued or run down, or you have jet-lag, I had a jet-lag drip when I was in Chicago and it was fantastic. People who are doing high-intensity training like marathon runners or cross-fit athletes, there’s a broad cross-section of the community who can benefit from IV treatment.
So what can we expect to pay?
Our most expensive drip is $169 which, in comparison to Sydney, is very cheap, you can be paying around $400 to $500 for the same treatment.
How is it that you can do it so much cheaper?
It’s not that the product is any different, we need to cover our costs, we just didn’t want to be profiting from people who are sick and can benefit from this treatment.
Our biggest costs are around labour as each IV treatment needs to be administered by registered nurses or doctors with advanced life support training. Also some of the medication is by prescription so therefore we need a doctor to sign off on that, which is where the major costs are.
Is it an instant feeling?
You do feel it instantly, because it’s nice and cold, and each treatment takes around an hour to complete. However the effects are different for everyone, some people find it works instantly other people have said they feel the effects a day or so later.
It isn’t obviously a new thing, we’ve seen all the celebs doing, but how long has IV been used as a form of treatment?
It has been around since the 50’s when Dr Myers started giving IV treatments to cancer patients. However it really took off when Rihanna posted a picture of her having one, now all the celebs are doing it. It is also very popular in Asia particularly Japan, they are everywhere, mainly because they love the beauty effects of the Glutathione IV, which whitens and evens out your skin tone and takes away your freckles and marks.
The IV Lounge may not be for everyone but the idea of injecting some much needed energy and wellness into your body in just an hour sounds like something we need to try.