Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Intravenous nutrition and hydration therapies, popular in bigger cities, are now available in Albert Lea with a company started by a nurse practitioner last year.

Lori Aasen opened Vitalize IV Drip at 2209 E. Main St. in April in the building shared with Over the Moon Massage.

Hydration therapy is a method to hydrate and detoxify the body at the cellular level by infusing fluids, vitamins and nutrients directly into the blood stream where they can have the greatest benefit.

Aasen said the treatments can provide relief from illness and hangovers, detoxify the body, boost the immune system and metabolism, improve mental clarity, combat jet lag and help pre- or post-workout.

Infusions can also promote healthy skin and improve energy levels.

Aasen, who has been a nurse since 1995 and a nurse practitioner since 2011, said she loves nursing but has found over the years that she tends to be more holistic in her philosophies compared to the philosophies found in Western medicine.

She started the business as an entry point in that direction and hopes to eventually expand into other things, including functional medicine, energy medicine and possibly even hormone replacement.

For the IV therapy, she works with Olympia Pharmaceuticals for the various formulas that are available, and all of the supplies she uses are medical grade.

Aasen said when a client comes for a therapy session, she will go over the person’s medical history and take his or her vital signs both before and after the therapy.

The therapy itself generally lasts an hour and consists of specific vitamins and minerals that are combined with saline fluid and given via IV to the client.

“Lori is a very skilled nurse practitioner,” said Linda Ferguson of Over the Moon Massage, who previously worked with Aasen in the emergency room, and who has gone through a few sessions of the therapy herself for an immune boost and recovery after being sick. “She’s very good at what she does, very thorough— painstakingly accurate.”

She said Aasen can customize a therapy for each client based on his or her needs.

Ferguson said after people are born they become dehydrated and don’t drink enough water — she noted most people should drink eight glasses of water a day.

“Most of us don’t get that,” Ferguson said. “And eight glasses of water a day is minimum of what we need. We’re constantly in a state of dehydration.”

She said people can tell that they are dehydrated when their skin or eyes are dry.

“I don’t think people realize how awful they feel when they’re dehydrated,” Ferguson said.

She commented on how she felt better after receiving her IV therapy.

Ferguson said the therapies Aasen provides have become popular in other larger neighboring communities, and Albert Lea is slowly catching on to some of the complimentary things that exist.

“I want to see her succeed because I see so much value in this,” Ferguson said.

While appointments are mostly done at the office, Aasen can provide the treatment at a home or office setting if she is available. Appointments are scheduled around her full-time job.

In addition to the IV therapy, Aasen said the business also provides Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D3 injections.

More about Vitalize IV Drip can be found at www.vitalizeivdrip.com. To schedule an appointment, call 507-402-9458.