WHAT DO WE OFFER AT DRUMMARTIN CLINIC?

Perhaps you have “been everywhere and seen everyone”, doctor-wise.

Maybe (1) your symptoms are not fitting in with a ‘disease label’ (hence ‘no diagnosis’) or (2) you are dutifully taking the prescribed treatment but experiencing little or no health benefits or (3) you may be specifically interested in the potential benefits of medical ozone treatment, prolozone treatment, IASIS Micro Current Neurofeedback or IV nutritional therapies.

Most of our patients have exhausted standard medical diagnostic and treatment options.

“Nothing more can be done, I am sorry” is the usual phrase. The problem will often involve some of the following: pain, headaches, fatigue, autoimmune conditions, chronic inflammatory response syndromes, bowel issues, menopause, sleep disorders, anxiety, cognitive impairments, depression which is unresponsive to antidepressants, and many others. Usually life has become very difficult.

We will search to find and treat the root cause so as to hopefully get you feeling ‘really well’ once more.

We work co-operatively alongside Dr Patrick McGovernyour G.P and/or consultant and blend standard and complementary medicine, ensuring that you receive the benefits of both medical systems. We avoid recommending treatments that may conflict with your prescribed medicines. Hopefully with help from all of us in Drummartin Clinic, good doctor-patient teamwork and you, also, working to help yourself, your life will, once more, be enjoyable and productive. It’s best that your various doctors work together co-operatively for your benefit, and so we think the best thing is to let your GP know that you are also adding in nutritional/functional medicine. Occasionally a patient wishes to keep their relationship with us completely private and requests that we do not communicate with their GP or consultant and, of course, we always respect those wishes.

I radically changed my way of thinking about seven or eight years after qualifying. Initially I was adamantly anti-complementary medicine.

I considered that, if it really had anything useful to offer, mainstream medicine would have immediately incorporated these techniques.  I was naïve.

At Drummartin Clinic we try to offer the very best of emerging complementary treatment techniques from around the world.
Dr. Magovern devotes several weeks each year to travelling to international medical conferences to keep up to date, and to learn and bring back the most promising and innovative medical treatments and techniques to Drummartin Clinic, so as to best help our patients and expand our collective skillset.

A solely symptom-suppressive treatment plan which ignores the root cause means that the underlying condition smoulders away continuously. Ultimately, the underlying condition will flare up again, sometimes with increasing frequency. This approach often eventually stops working.

Modern medicine has contributed hugely to the elimination of the burden of human suffering. Sometimes however, modern medicine diagnoses and decides the medical action path too quickly.  Sadly there is ever-decreasing respect for a detailed patient medical history. The brief, sometimes time-pressurised consultation model may lead to unnecessary suffering for patients, and missed opportunities for treatment. Unusual symptoms are frequently considered to be caused purely by stress or psychological issues.

Modern medicine treats diseases and is largely ‘algorithmic’. Our aim is to ‘treat the patient who has the disease’. Each of us is biochemically individual – this seems to have faded from consciousness somewhat in modern medical practice.

 

Our primary clinical role is to discover effective solution for our patients’ medical problems when standard medicine has not worked, sometimes introducing a new or cutting-edge complementary treatment which can be added in to their standard medical treatment. Many of the treatments which we use e.g. ozone and IV therapies, currently do not form part of the canon of evidence-based medicine. Maybe one day. However, our patients need the treatment now, not in ten years’ time. And they also need hope – realistic hope – now, rather than in a distant hoped-for future.

At the core of what we offer is Dr. Patrick Magovern’s many years of experience as a GP treating unexplained illness, combined with his broad knowledge, gained over 40+ years as a medical doctor, of innovative medical therapies including functional, complementary, and nutritional medicine. We delve deeply and comprehensively into each patient’s problem and combine attentive listening, root-cause-seeking investigations, and innovative treatment ideas. Our versatile approach covers both conventional and complementary medical clinical methods.

If you have doubts as to the suitability of your symptoms for the Clinic, please ask.  We will let you know whether or not we consider it would be worthwhile for you to pursue treatment with us.

Some examples of the experiences of real patients can be found here: patient testimonials.

Being truly well is not the same as ‘not suffering from a disease’.

We seek to restore lives. We have decades of experience investigating and treating complex or unexplained illnesses. The history of complementary medicine in some parts of Europe involved patients being promised miracles. This is a shame. We cannot promise outcomes, but we have been told many times, that the effects of our treatment have been ‘life-changing’.

We are neither pro- nor anti-pharmaceutical.  The best treatment plan for a particular patient frequently involves both standard and complementary medicine.

We emphasize finding the root cause of the problem if at all possible, and aim to be thorough and to think both outside and inside the standard clinical ‘box’.

Our aim is to bring physical, mental and emotional well-being back to people’s lives – to ‘treat the person who has the disease, not just the disease’.

Drummartin Clinic Front Door

Healing is a team-job:
To achieve optimal results, patients must actively participate in their own treatment and healing process: a collaborative relationship between doctor and patient is imperative. Without wishing to sound too jargonistic, patients need to engage with their inner healer.

Practical issues concerning money:
Our fees reflect the time we spend, the complexity of our work, our commitment to study and to the necessary travelling for the associated training so as to make emerging advanced complementary medical techniques available to our patients, together with our high operating costs.

Our operating costs are high. In contrast to GMS General Practice, we receive no public funding. Our consultations are long because we mostly see challenging and medically complex problems – most people seeing us have been unwell for a minimum of three to five years. We have a much higher admin / support staff-to-doctor ratio, because our patients need a higher level of support. We also have purchased and maintain extremely expensive, specialised medical equipment. We also maintain costly non-state subsidised insurance for our complementary therapies.

Dr. Magovern spends several weeks each year travelling to medical conferences in the US and mainland Europe learning the latest diagnostic and treatment advances, especially concerning unexplained illness, so that patients do not always need to travel abroad if they have a hard-to-solve medical problem which is not responding to standard medical treatment.


Will one or two consultations magically turn your situation around?

There are no ‘magic pills’ or ‘cure-alls’.

Don’t throw away money hoping that a mere one or two consultations, or one or two medical ozone treatments will cure a complex medical problem of several years standing, for which you have seen several doctors, whether GPs or consultants. My advice is that unless you really make an effort and are prepared to embark on a long-term strategic, usually multi-layered health plan, you will be disappointed. If you are not prepared to do this, save your money and use your spare cash for something that you or your family will enjoy, especially if your funds are tight.

Costs for Patients

Getting better takes time and diagnostic effort both on the part of the doctor and the patient.

Without doubt, a minimum of four to six consultations will be involved. Generally in our experience, patients will usually improve incrementally – even at the 2 to 3 month stage, there generally has been substantial progress.  Full/semi-full resolution of complex problems will generally take 12-24 months. To initially investigate a long-term illness generally absorbs about €1,200+ in laboratory fees. Treatment will involve the cost of nutritional supplements and pharmaceuticals. There may also be the cost of IV and/or ozone treatments.  However the prize of restored health is something really worth fighting for. Poor health can make life very difficult indeed. People ask “does your approach work?”. Generally it seems to, even in situations that look pretty hopeless (please note, I am not referring to late-stage cancers) and where the chance of a good outcome seems very unlikely. I would not be doing this work or offering this service if, overall, we did not get good to excellent results for our patients. Instead I would be a mainstream GP.

Some typical reasons why patients come to consult us:

The majority of our patients, before seeking our services, have consulted with numerous practitioners, both medically qualified and non-medical.

Occasionally, these patients may depict themselves as being at the end of their tether.

The investigations will have been conducted thoroughly and competently prior to reassurance being provided, but with no explanation for the symptoms having been discovered.

Patients have been told: “All your tests are satisfactory. Would you be interested in a referral for stress management, or alternatively, exploring the option of antidepressants or stronger anti-inflammatory medication?”. Additionally some have been told: “Counselling or having a discussion with a psychiatrist regarding your mental health and stress may also be beneficial”.

In other situations, there will be a firm diagnosis, but the treatment being used is proving of limited assistance.

Examples of conditions that pertain to this group are fibromyalgia, post-viral fatigue, and ‘functional’ neurological syndromes, alongside PMS/PMDD, IBS, inflammatory bowel disease/Crohn’s disease/UC. The list here is a long one and goes on. We also treat eczema, asthma, psoriasis, long-term itch, urticaria etc.

Patients seeking prolozone treatment for pain problems:

Prolozone is used to solve pain issues in joints such as the neck, shoulder, knee, ankle, finger, as well as lower and upper back pain. Prolozone usually also works for carpal tunnel. I have had mixed responses with hip pain.Drummartin Clinic Waiting Room

Specifically Female Pelvic Pain Problems:

One to three pelvic injections will work extremely well for severe period pain.

Female patients also seek prolozone for unexplained long-term pelvic pain and sexual difficulties, frequently caused by endometriosis, and also for interstitial cystitis. This procedure can also be useful for urge incontinence.

There is more extensive information in the section Chronic Pelvic Pain in Women.

Male Urinary and Genital Issues:

Male patients suffering from chronic prostatitis and non-specific urethritis can use ozone as a stand-alone treatment. We have found this very helpful.

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: We have found ozone treatment extremely effective here also.

Please see much more extensive information on our Problems treated Frequently page.

Before consulting us, please make sure you have been checked out by your GP:

If you experience any new red-flag symptoms like a suspicious morning headache with nausea, significant new-onset fatigue, or change in bowel habit, and you’re over 40 years old, it is important to see your GP for proper evaluation and treatment, before embarking on any non-standard medical treatment.

Standard, conventional medicine ought to be the first port of call for you – which means you ought to see your GP with any worrisome complaints. No one system of medicine is perfect, however standard medicine is excellent at diagnosing significant or life-threatening disease, and must not be by-passed.