Warnings as IV vitamin drips become increasingly popular at UK beauty salons

The trend for injecting vitamins directly into the bloodstream, normally through an injection or drip, has become increasingly popular.

They are often sold and administered at beauty salons, and often advertised as hangover cures or useful for warding off illnesses.

But, doctors are warning this practice is largely unregulated, and many people don’t understand the dangers associated with improperly administered intravenous drips.

Although there are some medically trained experts at salons offering to do them, not everyone offering the service is trained.

And now medical professionals like Dr Amir Khan want to stress that proper training is needed to administer drips and injections, otherwise someone could be seriously harmed.

“It should only be given by healthcare professionals who have a good knowledge of your medical history.

“All of us can get our nutrition through good food and getting it through intravenous drips at a beautician who are not trained or don’t have any recent blood tests or you don’t know how well your kidneys or liver are working is really dangerous. It generally is a bad idea,” he said.

Worryingly vitamin injections can be bought easily online, from as little as £5. As part of this investigation, I purchased a vitamin B12 injection kit online.

There were no age restrictions, or instructions on how to inject safely on the website. It claims to improve brain function, and increase energy levels. But, there’s no real guarantee that it’s actually vitamin B12 in the injection I bought.

Until last year, the intravenous therapy industry was completely unregulated. Now, providers must be registered with the Care Quality Commission.

“Following a recent assessment and investigation into previously unregistered Intravenous therapy organisations over recent months, the Care Quality Commission will have concluded that all providers administering Intravenous Therapy and Products will now require CQC registration,” the CQC said in February 2022.

There are places administering vitamin drips safely, and customers who claim the vitamin infusions are benefitting them. But with the demand growing, this could be just the beginning of a potentially dangerous trend.