Why Hydration Therapy Is So Important During the Summer

Have you ever been so thirsty that you just craved water? That’s one of the milder symptoms of dehydration. You’re more prone to dehydration in the summer because you’re more likely engaging in outdoor physical activities and sports in the heat. You’re losing water at a fast rate as your body sweats and the water evaporates to try to keep you cool. Sometimes you can’t replace the water fast enough, and you become dehydrated.

The caring staff led by board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Jack Hensel Jr. at Lowcountry Plastic Surgery provides a suite of wellness services that includes IV hydration therapy. IV therapy helps ensure that you’re replenishing all of the hydration plus vitamins and nutrients that your body needs during the heat of summer so that you look and feel your best.  

What is IV hydration therapy?

No doubt you’re familiar with IVs in hospitals that deliver hydration and medication via a needle inserted in the arm. Hydration therapy follows the same procedure, but the ingredients in the IV are different. IV hydration therapy infuses a liquid mix of vitamins and minerals directly into your bloodstream. 

Why is dehydration dangerous? 

It’s easy to become dehydrated and not realize it right away. You’re constantly losing water from your body through your urine, skin, and even intestines. When you work out or engage in rigorous physical activity, especially in hot temperatures, sweating speeds up your loss of water. 

Some mild symptoms of dehydration include cramps in your muscles, extreme thirst, and fatigue. You may also experience any of the following: 

• Headache
• Lightheadedness
• A need to sleep 
• Passing little urine 
• Dark-colored urine 
• Decreased skin elasticity
• Dry mouth, lips, and nose 
• Low blood pressure

Dehydration negatively affects your circulation, metabolic system, and hormone regulation. When you’re out in the summer heat working or playing, you can even get “brain fog,” meaning issues with short-term memory and attention. 

As dehydration progresses, it becomes a more serious situation. In extreme cases, dehydration can cause seizures, brain swelling, kidney failure, shock, coma, and death.

Benefits of IV hydration therapy 

There are numerous benefits to IV hydration therapy. 

Efficient rehydration and delivery of nutrients

IVs are an effective way to deliver medications you need. IV hydration is just as effective, as it enters your bloodstream directly rather than through the digestive system.

When IV hydration therapy is used for wellness purposes, the same theory applies. You retain more of the vitamins and minerals rather than having them pass through your digestive tract. 

In the heat of summer, when you’re engaged in sports or working outside, your body is losing key vitamins and minerals at a rapid rate. Water, while critical, doesn’t deliver those nutrients.  

Some runners use IV hydration therapy before a long distance race, helping give them the energy and endurance needed, and office workers use them to restore energy after a party weekend. The Myer’s cocktail, a specific formulation of nutrients, has been found to be helpful in promoting well-being and physical performance and lessening fatigue.  

No bloating from excess water

If you drink too much water when you’re playing your sport or working, you’ll feel bloated. Your body can only take so much water at one time. You’ll strain your system in eliminating the excess fluid. 

Researchers have discovered that when you hydrate with just water after intense physical activity, much of it is soaked up by your throat and the lining of your digestive system. You need large amounts of water to hydrate the rest of your body, and that can bloat you. Plus, too much water can actually lessen the electrolytes available to you after a workout.

Quicker recovery after vigorous physical activity 

An infusion of vitamins and minerals during IV hydration therapy can offer quicker relief from sore, stiff muscles after intense play or work in the heat. Elite athletes have used saline drips for many years for rehydration; the practice isn’t a novelty. 

You’re not playing or working at peak performance when muscle recovery is delayed due to being dehydrated. During intense physical activity, much of your blood flow is directed to your muscles and less to your stomach. You’re not able to digest nutrients as well right after exercising. You may have experienced a sports drink coming back up into your throat after chugging it. IV hydration therapy delivers the energy you need most efficiently.  

Give our Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, office a call or book an appointment online with Lowcountry Plastic Surgery for IV therapy to restore energy and promote wellness.