An IV Lounge: Next Generation Spa nurse
I'm sitting in a doctor's office-like chair, eyebrows up in skepticism, as a nurse with a healthful glow finds my vein and sets me up for an intravenous infusion of nutrients. I'm at the IV Lounge: Next Generation Spa, concerned. Is this a medical facility? A scam? A blessing-to-be? The place is run by a doctor, an M.D., I'm assured, so I allow my hostess to proceed. (We'll get to the lady parts rejuvenation later. It's worth the wait.)
The physician and nurse shared a detailed explanation of why the IV Lounge specialty works, so in the name of research I give it a go. The duo are warm yet clinical and infectiously enthusiastic. I feel bad for wanting to roll my eyes.
The nurse walks me across the bright, stylish main room with weathered woods to one of five meditation pods. While I settle into the comfy egg-shaped seat, she turns on a 20-minute tape that instructs me to relax, body part by body part, and hooks me up to a clear bag bag filled with the pineapple-juice yellow baseline blend. She says she'll top me off with glutathione -- "the mother of all antioxidants," according to IV Lounge literature -- once the first bag empties, and that it's OK if I fall asleep.
Meditation pods
I'm not good at diffusing mid-day, but I'm happy to attempt to relax my toes, my ankles, my knees, in succession. After all, who wouldn't want to leave a 20-minute treatment feeling energized for the entire week?
That's what the IV Lounge promises. "This is super, super holistic," the doctor says.
Usually, during the first visit guests are tested via a high-tech gizmo called the S3 Biophotonic Scanner to see what nutrients their bodies lack. Then their infusions are tailored to compensate. As a media guest, I visited IV Lounge: Next Generation Spa before the center opened and the medical device hadn't yet arrived, so I was given the baseline mix -- which contains the B Complex vitamins plus Vitamin C.
The IV Lounge: Next Generation Spa -- How I Felt After the Treatment
Once I was hydrated with this megamix, the medical team asked how I felt, expecting me to say "Amazing!" I felt weird, just a tad overhydrated. But, I'd started out healthy. I eat a varied diet, drink water throughout the day and exercise regularly -- and had done an energizing shoulder-stand exercise at Firefly Yoga a couple of hours earlier. In other words, I'd walked in the door fairly energized.
Soco's bloody Mary
I kept tabs on myself going forward. The next day, which was disgustingly hot and humid, I ran from a New Southern brunch at Soco to errands all around town, even dealing with that dreadfully exhausting Apple store in the Mall at Millenia. I still felt good when I got home, and that's after a near-perfect bloody Mary; day-drinking usually knocks me out lickety-split.
The next day, a Monday, I exercised, drove all the way to the Cocoa Beach Pier's new Rikki Tiki Tavern and back, then worked until day's end, and I still felt refreshed.
So, can I vouch for IV Lounge: Next Generation Spa? Not yet. But my experience was positive, from the time I was greeted at the front desk until this morning, Tuesday, when I'm still in good spirits and ready for a busy day.
Rikki Tiki Tavern is at the very end of the Cocoa Beach Pier.
The doctor, who first ran this business out of a chiropractor's office for a year and a half, claims that 80 percent of first-timers return. That's impressive, yet I had to ask: Why not take vitamin supplements instead? This works faster and more effectively, she says, since stomach acids don't break down the vitamins and minerals.
The IV Lounge team recommends that guests buy packages for a year and receive infusions once a week for four weeks, then every other week. Right now, that seems silly to me, but I go through periods of intense fatigue and may feel differently during those phases. If you're tired, this is worth a try. It is run by a doctor after all.
IV Lounge: Next Generation Spa -- Now About Those Ladyparts
Women of a certain age change down under, and the IV Lounge promises rejuvenation via a gadget called ThermiVa. The vaginal restoration, a three-part treatment over three months, is said to last a year. According to the doctor, it increases lubrication, makes you tighter ("Your husband will love it"), strengthens orgasm, and, because it stimulates the G-Spot and the clitoris, makes recipients horny.
Where you're set up for the vitamin and mineral infusion. The vaginal treatment takes place in a different, dedicated, room.
The procedure involves a plastic doohickey that's inserted you-know-where, but involves no surgery. That thin dildo-like object is called an internal probe. It uses radio frequency to bring the tissue to 47 degrees Celsius. According to a ThermiVa brochure, the "science of heat" works to "Reclaim. Restore. Revive" women to their "'pre-baby' bodies."
I haven't tried this one, but The Hub is lobbying for me to have it done as a Father's Day gift for him. Yea yea, we'll see.
To get energized at the IV Lounge: New Generation Spa, the rates are $50 for a first consultation, $175 for a one-time vitamin infusion, and $49 for monthly memberships, with annual memberships available.
The IV Lounge: Next Generation Spa is located on Restaurant Row in the Dr. Phillips neighborhood, tucked into the Dellagio strip center. The address is 8014 Via Dellagio Way, Suite 108, Orlando, 407.545.3500. Click here to see the website.
If you sign up, please share your experiences in the comments section below. I'm truly curious about how customers feel about their treatments.