Medical Ozone Therapy

________________________________________________________________________________________

The use of medical ozone therapy is not officially endorsed  by the  Medical Council of Ireland (MCI) in the same way as standard pharmaceutical medicine is. The MCI is the regulatory body for doctors practising in Ireland and  sets the standards for good medical practice . 

________________________________________________________________________________________

History and Safety of Ozone Therapy.

ozone therapy

Ozone therapy is safe. It  is practised by over 26,000 health professionals in over fifty countries and has been studied for over half a century.

Any side effects are minimal and preventable.

Medical ozone applications date back to the early 1900s and its effects are proven, consistent and safe. Ozone in trained hands is  one of the safest  medical treatments with an excellent track record on safety.

Dr Mark Hyman MD ‘My personal Experience With Ozone Therapy’ describes how, when he was extremely sick and weak whilst also suffering from severe refractory clostridium difficile and feeling totally weak and unable to recover medical ozone therapy helped him (video lasts about 3 minutes)

Below Dr Josh Donaldson ND outlines the various ways in which ozone can be used as a medical treatment – broadly similar to the use of medical ozone at Drummartin Clinic (video lasts about 33 minutes)

Ozone is an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant therapy which works by creating a transient oxidative stress,which then stimulates the body to increase its own antioxidant capacity. Ozone also inactivates bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeast and protozoa, it stimulates oxygen metabolism and activates the immune system.

There is a strong regenerative medical effect on mitochondria. When applying this therapy, we are really inducing a controlled and harmless “micro-oxidation” that will produce a modulation of the cellular antioxidant system and the inflammation system.

Ozone increases neural stem cell migration and cytokine release and, to a smaller extent, also increases neural stem cell proliferation.

Due to its electrical properties,it has a potential use in neuro-restoration.

Systemic administration of ozone therapy includes indirect intravenous administration, rectal administration or administration via the ears.

Indirect intravenous administration:

A pre-determined blood quantity is withdrawn within a closed circuit and is then put into contact with the gas, which will dissolve in the blood and react with it within a few seconds. The blood is then immediately re-infused. We use a dedicated, specialist (certified and EU marked)medical ozone generation and administration machine for this procedure.

Rectal insufflation:

100ml to 450ml of ozone gas is administered rectally. This is not an uncomfortable procedure.

Ear/Auricular Ozone administration:

Ozone is administered so that it diffuses into the head via the eardrum (the eardrum is very thin, resembling tissue paper).

Prolozone:

Ozone can be injected directly into joints or muscles – this is referred to as ‘Prolozone’ treatment.The joints most frequently treated are shoulder, knee, ankle and wrist.

Back pain treatment is also requested fairly frequently. Ozone is injected into the paraspinal muscles for persistent low back pain (this is not the same as the administration of ozone into a spinal disc, which must be carried out under image intensification).

Ozone sinus injections:

In cases of persistent sinus infection, ozone is injected into the sinus area. This is not a painful procedure – discomfort level is one to two out of 10.

Cosmetic use of ozone for facial rejuvenation:

Ozone can be injected into the skin of the face for facial rejuvenation, and good results are obtained. This treatment is primarily a choice of individuals who wish to ‘freshen-up’ their facial appearance without resorting to botox.

The ‘Ten Pass’ Ozone procedure:

I first learned how to carry out medicalozone treatment by travelling to the US for training. There I was originally taught how to administer the standard ‘major autohemotherapy’. I found the results to be relatively slow in arriving,and the number and frequency of treatments required was off-putting. Treatments needed to take place two to three times weekly, over several weeks, if not months – prohibitive for patients in terms of both treatment cost and work disruption, and unfeasible for the clinic in that we could not provide enough appointments. It seemed to take a lot of treatments to make only a little bit of progress.

About a year later I learned about ‘Ten Pass’ Ozone Therapy and I managed to obtain the German 10 pass ozone generation technology. My patient outcomes radically improved – much less frequent treatments were needed, with less expense and less life-disruption for patients.

What happens during a Ten Pass Ozone Therapy treatment:

During a Ten pass ozone treatment a soft plastic intravenous line is inserted into the patient’s arm, and approximately 200ml of blood is withdrawn from the patient and mixed with ozone in a sterile mixing chamber. This process is then repeated 10 times so that the total amount of blood treated is approximately 2 litres. There is no discomfort involved, other than the intravenous line being inserted, which is just the same discomfort as having blood taken.

Here is a video of a ‘Ten Pass’ Ozone Therapy treatment:

There is a demonstration of ten-pass ozone being carried out by Howard Liebowitz MD on You Tube,which may be accessed by using the below link. It provides a good idea of what is involved in the treatment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UoLB6SprdM&t=2433s

Please remember that medical ozone is a treatment tool. Nothing is a cure-all

Ozone is  far-and-above the most useful treatment tool I have encountered in my almost half-a-century as medical student and doctor and I have flown  a lot of air miles travelling to learn from medical innovators in Europe and North America. Just because Ozone is potentially so useful it does not mean one can be lazy or slipshod or corner-cutting about making as good a diagnosis as possible. conditions we will have treated

Before you embark on any medical treatment please follow these steps- and I say this so often I should have it running on a looped tape!

  1. Establish a diagnosis. Now I mean a proper, layered, cause and effect functional medicine diagnosis. Not just a tick-box, algorithmic diagnosis like ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’ or ‘fibromyalgia’ which really tell the patient nothing about the cause of their misery.
  2. See if the root cause(s) can be identified and treat that root cause.
  3. When seeking a root cause in the individuals who do me the honour of coming to consult me: I pay very careful attention to hormonal imbalances, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, disordered digestive function, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, any trauma in the history whether it might be trauma with a big, capital ‘T’ or repeated minor trauma with a small ‘t’ , heavy metal intoxication, intoxication with chemicals or pesticides, bacterial dysbiosis, other unrecognised bacterial infections, mycotoxin issues,  mast cell disorder. In ‘real life’ medicine It usually is a combination of several of the above.

Provided any of the above contributory causes are addressed as appropriate then with the addition of medical ozone therapy if indicated the treatment outcome  can be incredibly satisfying and sometimes, indeed, far beyond what  could be imagined.

Please do not get me wrong : ozone may also be a very  useful stand-alone treatment in some circumstances.  However if the clinician constantly takes the lazy approach of just doing ozone …..ozone……and even more  ozone without investigating and offering a comprehensive approach the  outcome is likely to be far impressive and  any improvement likely to be shorter-lived. The patient ends up being re-treated on a very frequent basis which very few people can afford.

So I am not in favour of the the revolving-door high-patient turnover ozone clinic concept.  Revolving-door clinics are  fantastic revenue generator for their owners but the root cause is not investigated and thus to goes untreated. Medicine as far as possible, is about finding out what has gone wrong and fixing it.

A Case of the rare disease dermatomyositis.

The above detailed investigative and treatment approach is what was implemented  and used in the treatment of the 40 year-old male with dermatomyositis.

Dermatomyositis is a severe and often life-threatening autoimmune illness for which there is no known cure. There are further details in the next section.

Conditions Where Oxone Therapy May Be Helpful

Some of these conditions we will have treated here ourselves, and some we will have learned about from medical colleagues abroad:

Persistent infections, for example:

  • Someone who is having difficulty recovering from a flu, chest infection, an unresolving viral infection or post Covid 19.
  • Someone who has a Cellulitis/Soft tissue infection which is not responding well to treatment, or an ulcerated area.
  • Diabetic feet, Diabetic foot ulcers.
  • Infections such as herpes simplex or herpes zoster (shingles).

Non-healing surgical wounds:

Recently we had a lady in her 50s who had undergone extensive foot surgery 8 weeks previously, and despite all the therapies available in a large teaching hospital,she had a non-healing wound. She was referred to me by her orthopaedic surgeon. The patient was unable to bear any weight on her foot, hence she could not use crutches, and had to use a ‘knee scooter’.  The foot surgeon referred this lady for Myers intravenous infusions, because she had very significantly benefited from intravenous infusions previously.

As a courtesy to the referring colleague I administered a few intravenous infusions, but the real game-changer was a very small number (2-3) ten-pass ozone treatment sessions. Within seven days this lady was back on her crutches, the stubborn wound was closed and very shortly afterwards she was able to begin to weight-bear on the troubled foot. The persistent scab disappeared, and her foot became pain free again.

There also was an excellent cosmetic outcome enabling this lady to  wear sandals open footwear and sandals without,  in any way, feeling  self-conscious.

As an unexpected bonus, which I do not understand to this day, a long-term problem with urinary incontinence also cleared up at the same time.

Inflammatory Musculoskeletal Disorders including:

  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Ankylosis spondylitis
  • Fibromyalgia
  • General ‘rheumatism’/ rheumatics.
  • Plantar fasciitis (pain on the sole of the foot, nearer to the heel area).

Joint Pains (in these situations ozone is injected directly into the joints affected) including:

  • Frozen shoulder unresponsive to physiotherapy
  • Tendonitis of the shoulder
  • Knee pain including osteoarthritis
  • Ankle pain including osteoarthritis
  • Morton’s Neuroma (pain on the sole of the foot, usually just a little posterior to where the first and second toes meet)
  • Plantar fasciitis (pain on the sole of the foot, nearer to the heel area).

Connective tissue and autoimmune disorders – a severe case of dermatomyositis:

In the past year we had a patient in his forties with very severe dermatomyositis who had almost died at one stage of his stay in hospital, prior to coming to see us. Even walking around his house, this gentleman needed continuous oxygen. The goal of his treating consultant was that at some time in the future he hopefully might be able to walk without supplementary oxygen. Last time I spoke with this gentleman, a year after he first came to me, he was totally off oxygen (a decision made by his respiratory consultant) and was negotiating a graded return to employment. This gentleman had a full comprehensive Functional Medicine programme tailored for him, which he followed carefully and enthusiastically, and the ozone therapy was a critical and very helpful part of this gentleman’s treatment programme.

Update September 26th, 2022:This gentleman is now back to work three days per week and is doing well with lung capacity. He is now in the normal range(the low end). FEV1 88%, FVC(L) 80% – both of these results have increased by 10% in the last 4 months.Oxygen transfer TLCO is now up at 73% which is up from 67% 4months ago, and his respiratory consultant considers he was in the low 30s at one stage. This gent has now been cleared to start swimming and cycling again.

S.L.E., Scleroderma:

Professor Lahodny in Vienna reports excellent results with scleroderma.

Gastrointestinal Conditions:

 Supportive Treatments:

  • Peripheral Arterial Disease
  • Ischemic Heart Disease
  • Macular Degeneration –there is some very good research data on the use of ozone in macular degeneration.

Miscellaneous conditions including:

Leg and Arm pain at night:

A 70 year old gentleman who could not tolerate sleeping on his back under any circumstances. When this gentleman lay on his right hand side, after 20 minutes he would get pain in his right arm and leg and then he would switch to lying on his left arm and left leg. Then after a further 20 minutes he would have to switch back again. End result: No decent sleep. Additionally, he was visiting the bathroom many times each night to pass urine. Ozone treatment resulted in a disappearance of the pain, and as a result, sleeping through the night and a dramatic reduction in visits to the bathroom.

Parkinson’s Disease:

Professor Lahodny (from near Vienna) reports very good results in Parkinson’s disease. We have not had the opportunity to treat any patients with Parkinson’s but in my clinical opinion, toxic influences also need to be identified and addressed in any case of Parkinson’s.

Some of these conditions we will have treated here ourselves, and some we will have learned about from medical colleagues abroad:

Persistent infections,for example:

  • Someone who is having difficulty recovering from a flu, chest infection, an unresolving viral infection orpost Covid 19.
  • Someone who has a Cellulitis/Soft tissue infection which is not responding well to treatment, or an ulcerated area.
  • Diabetic feet, Diabetic foot ulcers.
  • Infections such as herpes simplex or herpes zoster (shingles).

Non-healing surgical wounds:

Recently we had a lady in her 50s who had undergone extensive foot surgery 8 weeks previously, and despite all the therapies available in a large teaching hospital,she had a non-healing wound. She was referred to me by her orthopaedic surgeon. The patient was unable to bear any weight on her foot, hence she could not use crutches, and had to use a ‘knee scooter’.  The foot surgeon referred this lady for Myers intravenous infusions, because she had very significantly benefited from intravenous infusions previously.

As a courtesy to the referring colleague I administered a few intravenous infusions, but the real game-changer was a very small number (2-3) ten-pass ozone treatment sessions. Within seven days this lady was back on her crutches, the stubborn wound was closed and very shortly afterwards she was able to begin to weight-bear on the troubled foot. The persistent scab disappeared, and her foot became pain free again.

As an unexpected bonus, which I do not understand to this day, a long-term problem with urinary incontinence also cleared up at the same time.The operated foot also made an excellent cosmetic recovery, and the lady was able to wear sandals again with confidence.

Inflammatory Musculoskeletal Disorders including:

  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Ankylosis spondylitis
  • Fibromyalgia
  • General ‘rheumatism’/ rheumatics.
  • Morton’s Neuroma (pain on the sole of the foot, usually just a little posterior to where the first and second toes meet)
  • Plantar fasciitis (pain on the sole of the foot, nearer to the heel area).

Joint Pains (in these situations ozone is injected directly into the joints affected) including:

  • Frozen shoulder unresponsive to physiotherapy
  • Tendonitis of the shoulder
  • Knee pain including osteoarthritis
  • Ankle pain including osteoarthritis

Connective tissue and autoimmune disorders – a severe case of dermatomyositis:

In the past year we had a patient in his forties with very severe dermatomyositis who had almost died at one stage of his stay in hospital, prior to coming to see us. Even walking around his house,this gentleman needed continuous oxygen. The goal of his treating consultant was that at some time in the future he hopefully might be able to walk without supplementary oxygen. Last time I spoke with this gentleman, a year after he first came to me, he was totally off oxygen (a decision made by his respiratory consultant) and was negotiating a graded return to employment. This gentleman had a full comprehensive Functional Medicine programme tailored for him, which he followed carefully and enthusiastically, and the ozone therapy was a critical and very helpful part of this gentleman’s treatment programme.

Update September 26th, 2022:This gentleman is now back to work three days per week and is doing well with lung capacity. He is now in the normal range(the low end). FEV1 88%, FVC(L) 80% – both of these results have increased by 10% in the last 4 months.Oxygen transfer TLCO is now up at 73% which is up from 67% 4months ago, and his respiratory consultant considers he was in the low 30s at one stage. This gent has now been cleared to start swimming and cycling again.

S.L.E., Scleroderma:

Professor Lahodny in Vienna reports excellent results with scleroderma.

Gastrointestinal Conditions:

  • Ulcerative colitis
  • Crohn’s disease
  • Irritable bowel disease.

 Supportive Treatments:

  • Peripheral Arterial Disease
  • Ischemic Heart Disease
  • Macular Degeneration –there is some very good research data in Macular degeneration.

Miscellaneous conditions including:

Leg and Arm pain at night:

A 70 year old gentleman who could not tolerate sleeping on his back under any circumstances. When this gentleman lay on his right hand side, after 20 minutes he would get pain in his right arm and leg and then he would switch to lying on his left arm and left leg. Then after a further 20 minutes he would have to switch back again. End result: No decent sleep. Additionally, he was visiting the bathroom many times each night to pass urine. Ozone treatment resulted in a disappearance of the pain, and as a result, sleeping through the night and a dramatic reduction in visits to the bathroom.

Parkinson’s Disease:

Professor Lahodny (from near Vienna) reports very good results in Parkinson’s disease. We have not had the opportunity to treat any patients with Parkinson’s but in my clinical opinion, toxic influences also need to be identified and addressed in any case of Parkinson’s.

Medical ozone is an extremely useful and flexible treatment modality applicable to many cases of complex illness where there is a large inflammatory, circulatory, infective or autoimmune component.

It is best used in the context of a full integrated Functional Medicine treatment programme, which is the approach that is likely to give the best, most sustained outcome for patients.

Despite the above, there are some patients who have been treated abroad using ozone only, and who have made very good progress, but have made the decision not to delve any deeper into their disorder.I support patient autonomy and consider these individuals are fully entitled to make their own decisions.

So, subject to having a preliminary consultation to make sure that they are suitable and appropriate for ozone treatment, we will try to offer patients appointments as they become available.

It really is impossible to guess how many treatments someone will need.  However, I can estimate that at the low end of the scale of complexity, for example someone who has had an unresolved bronchitis which has not responded well to several courses of antibiotics, will probably do very well with two or three 10 pass treatments.

I think that cases of long covid, to do well, really need more treatment than just a series of 10 pass ozone treatment sessions, because long covid often seems to upset other things, including mass cell function and the autonomic nervous system.

The same applies to many autoimmune diseases, for example rheumatoid arthritis, s.l.e. or dermatomyositis.

A 45-year-old male who was suffering after a back injury writes:

I am very healthy and active, but I suffered what seemed like a simple enough back injury in the Summer of 2023.I was not able to get any relief and was quite debilitated for over 7 months. I had tried physiotherapy and steroid injections from consultants, but nothing was working. I did not expect this level of debilitation at the age of 45. I came to see Dr Magovern for both Ozone infusions and Ozone/Prolozone injections.

Within about 5 days my back started to improve and I’m very happy to say that it has been continuing to improve since.I’ve more work to do, but for the first time in what feels like a long time there’s progress, and I hope that I can get back to sport and normal life.

Additional reviews of our patient experiences can be found by clicking here