You're lying back in a chair. A nurse walks over and asks to see your arm. She swabs it with alcohol, prepping it for the needle. Nearby, there hangs a bag of fluids - a carefully crafted cocktail just for you.
You aren't in a hospital. You're at Vida-Flo, a new local IV bar.
New to Chattanooga, Vida-Flo is a wellness clinic focused on promoting comfort, hydration and nutrients intravenously. It began in Atlanta and has since spread all the way out to Breckenridge, Colorado, where a quick option for oxygen and fluids can be cheaper than a doctor's visit for anyone suffering from altitude sickness.
Here in Chattanooga, the altitude may not give need for such an offering, but there are plenty of other treatment options as well, Vida-Flo Chattanooga nurse Pat Pearson says.
From a hydration-packed rapid hangover cure filled with vitamins and nutrients to help the liver process an evening of over-indulgence, to concoctions made specifically to improve skin and hair or to help an athlete before and after a competition, a half-hour in a chair with an IV can do a great deal, she says.
Pregnant women frequently come in seeking hydration and relief from extreme nausea, she adds. And "the antidote," as the holy grail to the hungover is called, also works well for anyone facing flu-like symptoms in need of a fast recovery.
Rather than clinical, the rooms are set to be another soothing part of the experience. Televisions in every room ease anyone who might be needle-nervous, as does the bowl of candy - there because many say they can taste the vitamins, even though they're given intravenously - next to every chair. Phone chargers and blankets are also made available to every customer.
So why choose a needle over a multivitamin or a day in bed to recover?
For those who are healthy, the hydration and vitamin combination can assist with a good night of sleep or better skin, due to the optimum absorption from the IV delivery, Pearson says. And for those who are ill, whether due to a virus or a night of drinking, the effects are more immediate.
"People who are sick feel the most benefit," Pearson acknowledges of the various treatments, which range from simple hydration to cocktails of vitamins to treat ailments - only given after a medical questionnaire is filled out and a short consultation conversation happens with a nurse. "But everyone gets the benefit."