IV Therapy for Healing and Wellness
THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH THROUGH AN IV? WHAT??
Oxidative stress is the result of exposure to toxins that break down the natural defense mechanisms of our cells. These toxins can come from many environmental sources, (smoking, alcohol, processed foods, toxic chemicals, to name a few), and then there is stress. Stress causes our body to “over function” and causes many of our natural defense mechanisms to overload and put our bodies at risk for immune disfunction, leading to illness.
Sometimes we stress load the body via injury. Let’s think about having surgery. It can take a lot of work to heal from an injury, depending upon the severity. Compare having your eyebrows tattooed to getting a facelift. The healing time from the brow procedure is quite minimal with very little noticeable shift in our natural state of being. Maybe a day or two of some minor tenderness and a few days of some crusting, then you are basically recovered. Now think about having a facelift. You may have some anesthesia, and some other drugs to induce comfort during the procedure. There is significant trauma to the tissues from incisions, “rearranging” of the position of the underlying muscle and tissue, and sutures placed in the incision site. Our bodies automatically recognize the more severe trauma of the facelift, and we will experience more tenderness, swelling, bruising and take longer to heal overall- basically days versus weeks. However, regardless of how minor or major the injury to the body, how we heal depends upon our immune system and our cellular function, which sets the stage for how we rebound and feel 100% recovered from anything that puts us in “healing” mode. In a person with a compromised immune system, even the minor injury can take much longer to heal, and possibly not result in as optimal of an outcome. I see this quite often with permanent cosmetics.
People who have healthy, elastic, and well-protected skin will have quite predictable and very lovely results from their procedures. With someone who’s skin is sun damaged, does not exfoliate regularly, and does not properly maintain the health of their skin leading to a rough texture, deeper wrinkles and loss of elasticity, the results can be less than optimal and even downright disappointing. I have colleagues that will not work on clients with less than desirable skin, as they know it will affect the outcome of their work, which can be interpreted as poor work by the technician, rather than poor healing on an unhealthy canvas. After so many years of experience, I have learned there are steps that can be taken to improve the skin canvas and I will often recommend various ways to prepare the skin prior to a procedure to ensure a better outcome.
HOW TO ENSURE OPTIMAL HEALING
So how do we ensure optimal healing, and how does one prepare the skin cells, and the overall immune system, to be an effective helper in recovery from any trauma or illness? The number one most effective helper to our immune system and cellular recovery function is the presence of antioxidants that stop free radicals, or damaged, cells.
To understand how antioxidants work, think of them like this: antioxidants are like the selfless marine in the war movie who jumps on the grenade to save his buddies. They are the body's primary defense against oxidative stress. Healthy immune and cellular function is the reason we take vitamins and other supplements and eat healthy fresh foods that contain many antioxidants, or free radical fighters. The goal is to provide our bodies with a strong army that can defend our cells and organs and promote healthy immune systems. The same goes with our skin cells, and all modern anti-aging protocols from internal supplements to high-end skin care products, rely on the principles of antioxidants to reverse and prevent free radical damage. Long-term UVA and UVB exposure is one of those stressors to the cells that causes the good healthy cells to become weakened and unable to continue living in a healthy state. Once this occurs, we start to see changes in skin tone, texture and elasticity (none of which are a change most of us wish to see!).
GLUTATHIONE
If you knew that you could call on Wonder Woman or Superman to be your personal protector, wouldn’t that be great? Anytime you needed a hand you could hit speed dial and they would come swooping in to save the day – an amazing idea right?
When it comes to wellness and healing and recovery, you can put a special super power to work for you. Our cells naturally produce a substance called glutathione. It is a super-power antioxidant. Glutathione is a naturally-occurring peptide produced by every cell in the human body, including immune cells. This powerhouse molecule is made up of three essential amino acids: cysteine, glutamate and glycine.
Glutathione improves immune function and helps fight and prevent disease
Glutathione lightens and brightens skin by erasing hyper-pigmentation and inhibiting melanin production in cells
Glutathione reduces inflammation
Glutathione helps your body break down and purge fat
Glutathione keeps your body from becoming resistant to drugs
Glutathione promotes high energy and mental clarity
Glutathione has anti-aging properties
Glutathione can improve quality of sleep and combat stress from sleep apnea
Glutathione is the ultimate detoxifier and fights oxidative stress
High glutathione levels directly correspond to overall health and function for every system in your body. Your cells make glutathione, but usually not enough to deal with the high levels of free radicals (from environmental toxins, alcohol, stress and more) we encounter daily.
GLUTATHIONE AND YOUR SKIN
Glutathione not only lightens the skin, it helps minimize and prevent dark marks, scars and age spots. Glutathione also detoxifies the liver, which results in brighter, clearer skin. Oxidative stress is a known factor in acne breakouts. Glutathione reduces the effect of free radicals in the skin and can help prevent acne, wrinkles and fine lines.
Glutathione levels decrease as we age. Certain diseases and health conditions can also reduce glutathione supplies. Low levels of glutathione are linked to poor health. This is one reason why people are more likely to develop various health problems as they get older.
Health problems can cause decreased glutathione. You can also fail to produce enough glutathione due to genetic deficiencies and lack of the necessary enzymes.
Replenishing glutathione helps treat the symptoms of many health problems associated with low levels of this important antioxidant. It helps in cellular recovery specific to healing.
Studies show eating or drinking glutathione supplements is not an effective way of increasing your blood levels of glutathione.
Glutathione IV infusion bypasses your digestive tract and delivers the powerful antioxidant directly to your bloodstream where it can do the best. High levels of glutathione in your blood are carried to your brain, heart, lungs, muscle tissue, and everywhere in your body so your cells can benefit from glutathione’s detoxifying and protective properties.
There are some supplements shown to boost your body’s own production of glutathione:
Vitamin C (taking Vitamin C with Glutathione can also increase absorption)
Vitamin E
Selenium
Curcumin
Silymarin
N-acetylcysteine
How well your body absorbs the supplement and produces glutathione depends on your unique body chemistry, age, health and many other factors. The best way to ensure you’re getting maximum absorption and the full benefits of glutathione is with an IV infusion.
Changing your diet can help with overall immune function, and adding key nutrients, vitamins and minerals found in healthy, organic and un-processed food sources is the cornerstone to optimal health, including the health and appearance of our skin. However, glutathione (the most powerful of the antioxidants) is not easily absorbed from food, and supplements that pass through the digestive system often lose their strength and efficacy.
OTHER BENEFITS OF GLUTATHIONE
The microblading of eyebrows is still in demand, however it is not for everyone. There are skin types and aesthetic preferences that do not make natural micro-stroke eyebrows the correct choice for all permanent eyebrow procedures. However, compared to overly dark, unnatural looking eyebrows, the idea of having brows that look more like hair than makeup is highly appealing to a large majority of people seeking to enhance or replace their substandard natural eyebrows. The proper technique for enhancing one’s eyebrows is very skin-type specific and a well-trained and experienced practitioner will make a recommendation based on what is best for the individual, not to just follow a trend.
Another point to make here – if you had permanent makeup prior to the advancement of the hairstroke techniques and have a more solid filled in brow, it is nearly impossible to then have distinct hairstrokes placed over the old color. If the old color is extremely faded, light in tone and has very minimal residual saturation, it is possible with the right practitioner, but a trained pro will only do this technique if they believe the outcome will be favorable. It is becoming increasingly necessary to do a series of removal procedures before being able to correct or “re-do” a more natural and esthetically pleasing eyebrow. This too requires someone who specialized in removal and corrective procedures.
Brain health and moods: People diagnosed with depression, OCD, ADHD and schizophrenia have low glutathione levels
During and after cancer treatments: Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant, helping the body remove excess free radicals. Stress and sickness can cause your body’s glutathione levels to become depleted very quickly.
When you’re sick or dealing with the side effects of cancer treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation, a decrease and change in appetite can make getting enough of this important nutrient nearly impossible.
Supplementing your diet with IV glutathione infusions can help repair cells damaged by cancer treatments. Many cancer survivors using IV therapy report improving their quality of life much faster than by relying on glutathione from food alone.
READY TO GIVE IV THERAPY A TRY?
Now that you know more about glutathione IV treatments and the many benefits, here is the exciting part!
We are now offering, in partnership with the Zelken Institute, Glutathione and combination IV therapies with glutathione. You can come in for your permanent makeup procedure and have an IV at the same time! You can experience both the recovery and overall health benefits of an intravenous injection of these powerful antioxidants.
Just let us know when you book your next appointment that you would like to add on IV therapy! If you wish to schedule just the IV, you may phone the front desk at the Zelken Institute by calling (949) 432-4730.
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