Dr Mayoni Gooneratne shares her approach to women’s health and what inspired her to open Human Health by The Clinic️ during lockdown, offering a holistic approach to wellbeing for the body and mind.
There are three concepts that have underpinned everything Dr Mayoni Gooneratne does at her Skin Fit Clinic – Skin Fit, Body Fit, Mind Fit. So when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she realised there was even more of a need for a 360-degree approach to achieving and maintaining optimal levels of health. As such, Dr Mayoni decided to expand the services she was already offering to her aesthetic patients to a wider patient base.
“My approach has always been Skin Fit, Mind Fit, Body Fit”, she says. “When Covid hit, I amalgamated the Mind Fit and Body Fit aspects into something much more functional medicine-based.”
Dr Mayoni believes that because everyone’s health needs are different, the future is to create a bespoke, tailored approach and to empower people to take control of their own health destiny by giving them access to treatments, advice and lifestyle strategies that combine in a holistic way to elevate all over health and wellbeing. And so Human Health by The Clinic was born.
“I truly believe the way forward is prevention and education. As a nation, we have become very illness-focussed rather than wellness-facing. We look for answers when our health has deteriorated to an extent where we need medicines and surgery, which have risks and complications. This approach also places huge pressure on the NHS and the people working within it, which is not sustainable. I truly believe our future lies in lifestyle medicine.”
Sitting alongside her existing aesthetics practice, with clinics in Honor Oak Park and Crystal Palace, London, Human Health opened its doors in December 2020. Dr Mayoni has become a leading voice in the industry about the synergy of wellness, aesthetics and lifestyle medicine and is studying for a diploma in Lifestyle Medicine, as well as being a member of The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine. She is also an accredited functional medicine doctor and is studying for another diploma in Functional Nutrition.
The Well Woman programme
Soon after opening the clinic, Dr Mayoni announced the launch of the Well Woman programme, designed to facilitate and promote good health for every woman everywhere.
Dr Mayoni is extremely passionate about women’s health. A leading authority on sexual health and sexual regeneration.
She punctuated her surgical training with four years of research at the Blizzard Institute under the supervision of Professor Sir Norman Williams, where she looked at pelvic floor disorders, namely faecal incontinence, and this is where her passion was ignited.
“I was startled at the huge prevalence of this condition in women and the fact it was such a silent but debilitating condition”, Dr Mayoni says. “This is probably where my passion for female wellness has come from. I also realised how many human illnesses were preventable or improved with better community-based care, which could reduce the need for drastic surgical options. My research period also showed me how vital it was to use the best scientific evidence to guide our clinical practice.”
The idea was to help women build strength and resilience through optimal health, increasing their chances of enjoying healthy longevity. “As women, our health concerns are as varied and diverse as we are, but one thing binds us together, we often put our own needs last”, she says. “What we do at the clinic really is permit women to take ownership of their health. The women we attract are usually intelligent, educated, career women who need someone to say, “Stop. Get off that treadmill. Don’t come home and then get on your exercise bike for an hour and do a Peloton. Your cortisol levels are non-existent. Your DHEA is non-existent. You need to be supporting yourself.”
The clinic utilises effective evidence-based medicine combined with advice and support from allied medical professionals, including a physiotherapist, nutritionist and health coach.
Its female-centric packages cover BHRT, pelvic floor health, well-woman checks and even acupuncture for hormonal health.
“The Well Woman Clinic is a consultation and health assessment designed around the specific needs and concerns of the female body”, Dr Mayoni says. “At its core, the ethos is to help women to feel like they are listened to, that they are not just fobbed off with anti-depressants and that there is nothing to be embarrassed about as they are not alone.”
The patient journey starts with an hour-long consultation, followed by a second session where Dr Mayoni will discuss a no-obligation personalised treatment plan tailored to the patient and their needs.
This may include a complete physical examination including observations of height, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, heart and lung function and range of movement, a breast exam and/or self-exam, a pelvic exam and screening for fertility, ovarian and sexual health problems.
Treatment plans also focus on the six pillars of human health:
- Movement (physical activity and exercise)
- Diet, nutrition and supplements
- Stress reduction and mental wellbeing
- Sleep and rest
- Reduction or cessation of harmful substances, e.g. alcohol, smoking
- Healthy relationships
“Whenever we go through any type of change in life, it’s important to focus on the factors we can control rather than the issues that we can’t. Menopause is no different”,
says Dr Mayoni. “We can control our diet, sleep, exercise, the tone in which we talk to ourselves and self-care. This is why we use the Six Pillars of Human Health to hit all these important markers within our control to transform our well-being and live in abundant health.
“There’s more to hormone health than taking hormones, although often taking them in some shape or form can be brilliant, it’s not the be-all and end-all. There are hundreds of articles that show the importance of mindfulness, the importance of the gut health and mind/body and gut/mind connection, the importance of the oral microbiome, vaginal health, and inflammation.
Dr Mayoni’s approach is cellular-based and systems-focused. “if we start to look at these we can help people target their overall health. Because by improving and optimising cellular processes we will impact how our end organs work. So I work with patients to dial down their inflammation and this will improve their resistance to weight gain, hormonal imbalance, insulin resistance and skin health. This will also impact their future risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer’s.
“My mission with human health is to help women to remove all the blocks that stand between them and their highest potential, and that’s often health, and that’s great, but health is more than just taking a tablet. It’s more than just the absence of illness. It’s the presence of wellness.”
