(NECN: Lauren Collins, Amherst, NH) - Amanda Taylor had a flu shot but still feels under the weather. She hopes the shot in the arm she got Wednesday will help her feel better.
"It's supposed to work my antibodies and help push my immune system to help kick whatever it is that's going on," she says.
Taylor’s a patient at Greenhouse Naturopathic Medicine in Amherst, New Hampshire which offers intravenous therapy.
"We're the only doctors here in the state that can provide IV therapy in office and the IVs that we use help boost the immune system, enhance white blood cell counts in order to shorten the duration of the flu, prevent it all together, and minimize the severity of it," says Dr. Julia Greenspan, ND.
The treatments – IV drips and IV pushes – infuse the body with vitamins and fluids. Dr. Greenspan says this year's rampant flu outbreak has turned more and more people to her office in search of another way to wellness.
Dr. Laura Chan, ND, Lac, practices acupuncture, which her patients believe keeps them healthy all season long.
"When people can come in, reduce their stress and have their energy flowing better in their body it really makes a difference," she says.
"Keeping your whole body healthy helps protect against what we're all worried about now, the flu," affirms her patient, Robert Wills.
The National Institutes of Health says "although a few studies suggest a potential role for some complementary therapies, there is no strong scientific evidence that any complimentary health practice is useful against the flu."
Local
But, "the proof is in the pudding," says Dr. Greenspan. "Clinical outcome. Patients are getting better. They feel better."
Tim Lacey would agree. He's back for a second treatment. He got the first drip a few weeks ago when the flu hit his house, "and it did a great job of really knocking the duration down so I'm getting a second one as sort of a preventative, really clear it out of the house."
