IV therapy refers to administering any of a wide variety of liquid substances into the body via a vein. Administering drugs and other substances in this way is typically advantageous because IV therapy allows the substance to enter the blood stream directly. One common application of IV therapy is administering vitamins to patients intravenously through IV vitamin therapy.

IV vitamin therapy is sometimes used as a preventative therapy to improve overall health. However, it is a primary means of treatment for the following four medical issues:

Dysfunction of the immune system

The immune system can dysfunction because of a variety of different causes. Typically, the most severe cases of immune system dysfunction are seen in patients with autoimmune disorders like AIDs, celiac disease, or type I diabetes.

When vitamin IV treatment is used to treat immune dysfunction, it most often involves administering vitamin C intravenously to patients. Vitamin C builds upon the strength of the immune system because it can be used by the body to attack the nucleic acids in viruses.   

Depression

Treating depression is typically tricky because the condition cannot be narrowed down to an exact cause. However, many doctors point out vitamin deficiency as a common cause or at least significant contributing factor in the development of depression. They therefore prescribe IV vitamin therapy as a common treatment for the condition. 

Post-surgery pain and difficulty healing

After surgery, patients often experience long periods of discomfort and chronic pain until their surgery wounds heal. IV vitamin therapy after a surgical operation works to boost the body's ability to heal. Nutrients that are important in the healing process include vitamin C, which is a vital component in collagen production. Collagen helps close up wounds and fortify the skin around wound sites.

Another vitamin that's important in wound healing is zinc, which also aides in collagen production and is frequently chosen as a vitamin to include in post-surgery IV vitamin therapy. 

Anemia

Anemia occurs in patients whose bodies don't product enough red blood cells. The red blood cells function to deliver oxygen throughout the body via the circulatory system. If a patient is not able to efficiently channel oxygen throughout the body because of anemia, he or she can experience fatigue, shortness of breath, faintness, and/or a loss of consciousness. 

Anemia is often caused by iron deficiency. In some patients, it is the result of a deficiency in vitamin B12. Therefore, IV vitamin therapy used to treat anemia will usually involve intravenously administering one or both of these nutrients.