A new business promising IV vitamin therapy for wellness recently opened its doors on Purchase Street. Launched on May 13, The DRIPBaR, part of a national chain, offers high doses of vitamins and fluids directly into the bloodstream.
According to Andrea Della Mura, owner of the Rye DRIPBar, and a 34-year Rye resident, Vitamin IV therapy, allows the body to absorb higher doses of nutrients more quickly than it would normally be able to.
Over the last few decades, Vitamin IV Therapy has been promoted as a treatment for several medical disorders, including for those who require additional nutrient supplementation due to nutritional deficiencies, malabsorption issues, gastrointestinal abnormalities, chronic diseases, or who recently had surgery.
The space has a clean, modern aesthetic, with installations from local artists in bright hues of green and blue. A long hallway leads to a red neon “drip” sign before opening up into a spacious lounge.
Far from a sterile hospital feel, DRIPBaR feels warm and inviting, like a spa and wellness center.
Della Mura is a two-time cancer survivor, who was inspired by her own health journey to start her business.
“It was something that I searched out for my own wellness, and my own family’s wellness,” she said. “I couldn’t find a space that did it at the level that the DRIPBaR does. The quality of our vitamins are exactly what I feel is safe to put into my body, my family, my friends.
“Our main goal is to help people to be able to fuel their life by feeding their cells. About 90 percent of the people that walk through here, they’re fighting something. It doesn’t have to be cancer. I use my own story and my son too, autoimmune. I lean on the fact that I’m able to get these IV drips to help bring down my inflammation, to give my body what it’s lacking.”
Della Mura said the place offers a safe, reliable environment.
“We have a lab that is built out. It’s hospital grade, as is our sterilization system,” she said. “We only hire RN’s (registered nurses) and above.”
Photo Justine Pascutti
The Myers’ cocktail, one of the first IV Therapies, is named after the doctor John Myers, and was initially developed in the 1970s. One of DRIPBaR’s most popular treatments, The Debut, is based on Myers’ cocktail.
Other drips such as Restoration, Powerpack, and Metabolize target wellness benefits such as overall hydration, energy boosts and even weight loss.
Controversy over IV therapies
There is some skepticism in the medical community regarding IV therapy. Sam Torbati, co-chair of Emergency Medicine at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, told Cedars-Sinai.org: “For patients with certain gastrointestinal conditions, IV vitamin treatments can help provide necessary nutrition that their stomachs can’t absorb. But most people can get the nutrients they need from food or a multivitamin.
“Proponents of the therapy say the IV drips work because they bypass the stomach and go straight into the bloodstream, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing. When you put something straight into the bloodstream, you bypass all of your body’s built-in safeguards and filters.”
Zachary Mulvihill, an integrative physician at Weill Cornell Medicine, told The Washington Post: “I don’t recommend it [IV Vitamin therapy] to anyone unless there’s a medical necessity — such as if someone has trouble with absorption from the stomach.”
Mulvihill believes that most people can get the same vitamins from eating servings of fruits and vegetables.
Della Mura’s response to the IV vitamin debate is for people to try out IV therapy for themselves.
“We have had a lot of returning customers, and they want to know what kind of magic potion we put in their drip,” Della Mura said. “My clientele are educated. They’re open to trying things outside of the box. They’re willing to take that chance on their own health and be proactive instead of reactive.”
She added, “I took a big leap of faith because this [IV therapy] helped me so much in my family and in my own health, that I wanted to be able to bring this to my community. If God allowed me to survive cancer twice, I’m not about to sit around and just exist. I’m going to allow myself to share my story and what it is that has helped me.”