Find Out About Your Massage And Acupuncture Therapists Here!
Trent Knights
Acupuncturist, Chinese Medicine Therapist,
Massage Therapist, Educator
Trent is our full time acupuncturist and massage therapist at Acupuncture Works. It is his face that you will see all through our self care videos. He has been a qualified massage therapist since 2002 and an acupuncturist since 2007.
Over the years he has acquired a variety of massage, acupuncture, herbal medicine and exercise strategies to treat many painful and postural conditions.
But who is Trent you ask? He is not only a manual therapist, he is also a father, husband, bass/guitar player and hockey player. He is passionate about the topics which interest him, such as music, sport, exercise, health, tv/movies and enjoying the company of friends.
Most clients would agree that he loves a chat and really enjoys the challenge of helping clients to help themselves.
Carolyn Knights
Massage Therapist,
Personal Trainer, Educator
Carolyn is a very passionate remedial massage therapist and educator. She has been a massage therapist for over 20 years and a fitness trainer for even longer. Over the last ten years, Carolyn has been educating new massage therapists at Fitness Institute Australia and TAFE NSW.
She is a dynamic runner , frequently winning her age group. Carolyn has completed marathons, ultra-marathons and back in ’92 she even tackled the dreaded Hawaiian Ironman! If you believe in exercising, eating well and looking after yourself, you will love Carolyn.
A full range of acupuncture and massage services and products
we supply in our clinic can be found below.
- Do you want experienced therapists to assess your condition and provide quality therapies?
- We want to help you to be the best you can. We can provide treatment and self-care advice for a wide range of pain, postural and health conditions.
- We want you to come and see us, but the first step is up to you, so book in today.
- In our opinion, personal development should never be a job for tomorrow.
- All products show are available for purchase directly from our clinic. We do not sell online.
- Acupuncture is an ancient traditional form of treatment which includes inserting very fine acupuncture needles into specific points on the body. Research is bringing to light the mechanisms behind the effects of acupuncture. Read on to find out more about how acupuncture effects the body.
- It is no where near as scary as some first time clients think it is going to be. Most love the needling sensation.
- Acupuncture has been a topic of debate for a long while now, does it work or not. You only need to read my business name to get my standpoint.
- There is so much research that has been done on acupuncture in recent years to determine if it is effectiveness. The results have proven it to be effective in many cases, so now the question is, what is it effective for?
- The following is a sampling of encouraging scientific evidence into the field of acupuncture. It is by no means exhaustive but is used here to show prospective clients that acupuncture has a good scientific backing.
Headaches
Acupuncture has been shown to be effective in treating frequent episodic and chronic tension-type headaches. I 2 large trials, 48% of study participants had their headache frequency reduced when receiving acupuncture and standard care (pain-killers) when a tension headache occurred, compared to 17% who received standard care only. One study showed acupuncture effects can last up to 6 months
Tension-type Headaches “The available evidence suggests that a course of acupuncture consisting of at least six treatment sessions can be a valuable option for people with frequent tension-type headaches”. (“Cochrane Review: Acupuncture for Tension Type Headache, Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2016 April 19). hppt://www.cochrane.org/CD007587/SYMPT_acupuncture-tension-type-headache
Migraines
“The available evidence suggests that a course of acupuncture consisting of at least six treatments can be a valuable option for people with migraine” Acupuncture had slightly better results at reducing headache frequency than proven pharmacological options, with fewer side effects. The average migraine days suffered per month reduced by over 40%. These effects were achieved in roughly half of the study participants. http://cochrane.org/CD001218/SYMPT_acupuncture-preventing-migraine-attacks
Knee Osteoarthritis
The “results indicate that acupuncture represents certain clinical effect on knee osteoarthritis, which is superior compared with physiotherapy, and hint the possible roles of acupuncture in promoting cartilage repairing.” There were better pain, stiffness and physical function scores for the acupuncture group as compared to the physiotherapy group.
(“Influence of Acupuncture in Treating Knee Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Repairing”, Am J Transi Res, 2016; 8(9): 3995-4002). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5040698
Nerve injury recovery
This study is related to the effects of acupuncture on peripheral neuropathy (PN). PN is the name for damage to nerves outside the spinal cord. This study showed that acupuncture along the nerve pathway as well as along the governing vessel (over the spine) can induce an environment that may allow the nerves to heal.
“electroacupuncture at Governor vessel acupoints has an immediate therapeutic effect on peripheral nerve injury”
“acupuncture significantly improves motor nerve conduction velocity and amplitude and also promotes functional nerve repair” (Neural Regeneration Research V10, no.1 (2015): 128). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4357096
Acupuncture also appears to accelerate recovery after the use of general anaesthesia.
(“Acupuncture Recovery After General Anesthesia: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial”, J Integr Med. 2015 Mar; 13(2): 99-104).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25797640
Back Pain
There is a “strong recommendation” for the use of acupuncture as a first line therapy for lower back pain that is not radiating down the leg (“Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute and Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline from the American College of Physicians”, Annals of Internal Medicine, Clinical Guidelines, 4 April 2017). http://annals.org/aim/article/2603228/noninvasive-treatments-acute-subacute-chronic-low-back-pain-clinical-practice
Though if you do have pain radiating down the leg from sciatica, there is good news. This meta-analysis of multiple treatment types shows that acupuncture is more effective than opioids for sciatica (“Comparative Clinical Effectiveness of Management Strategies for Sciatica: Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis”, Spine J.2015 Jun 1; 15(6):1461-77). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24412033
Depression
Acupuncture increases the therapeutic effect of anti-depressants, less medication = less side effects (“The Benefit of Combined Acupuncture and Antidepressant Medication for Depression: A systematic Review and Meta-Analysis”, J Affect Discord. 2015; 176:106-117) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25704563
Ulcerative Colitis
“Clinical studies suggest that acupuncture and moxibustion therapy in ulcerative colitis (UC) can regulate bowel inflammation and these treatments have the advantages of low rates of adverse reactions and recurrence as well as long-term efficacy” (“Review of Clinical Studies of the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis Using Acupuncture and Moxibustion”, Gastroenterol Res Pract 2016; 2016:9248529). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articales/PMC5112307/
Gastreoesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
Acupuncture is safe and effective in the treatment of GERD
(“Acupuncture for Treatments of Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” BMJ Original paper, Jul 2, 2016).http://aim.bmj.com/content/early/2017/07/07/acupmed-2016-011205.share
Obesity
A systematic review & meta analysis on the use of acupuncture on adults with obesity is encouraging. Acupuncture was able to reduce both body mass index (BMI) and body fat measurements (BFM) at waist and hip measurements.
“Acupuncture appears to be an effective treatment for simple obesity” (“Acupuncture for the Treatment of Obesity in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” Post Grad Med J 2017 Jul 8). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28689171
Fibromyalgia
Studies investigating individualised treatments based on diagnosis according to traditional Chinese medicine theory concluded; “individualised acupuncture treatment in patients with fibromyalgia proved efficacious in terms of pain relief compared to placebo treatment. The effects persist at one year, and its side effects were mild and infrequent” (“Acupuncture for Fibromyalgia in Primary Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial”, Acupunct Med 2016; 34: 257-266). http://aim.bmj.com/content/34/4/257
- This isn’t just a feel good rub down! By using clinical assessment of your posture, movement and a few simple strength tests we can determine exactly where your muscles are tense, sore and needing some massage.
- It is amazing when we do our treatments how often new clients say, “no one has ever worked those muscles before”. The reason for this is that the treatments they have had are most likely only targeting the sore areas and not focusing on the areas that are causing the pain.
- What am I going on about? Well let’s have a look at the typical pain suffered by someone doing what I am doing right now, sitting at a computer typing. I am most likely going to end up with a sore upper back, shoulders and neck. True, but because my shoulders want to roll forward and my head wants to join them, I am going to end up with shortened and tense muscles in my chest and the front of my neck.
- Now if we don’t release the tight chest and neck, I am never going to be able to sit up correctly with good posture. Working on my back and the back of my neck will feel great and relieve my pain by “putting the fire out” and making the area hurt less, but it will not correct the problem and create long lasting results.
- Both myself and Carolyn have a long history of teaching massage therapy, so we are more than happy to explain your treatment, how we believe you have created your condition and how you can improve it. With knowledge comes power.
- So if you combine treatment for your condition, treatment for your postural and movement restrictions, some education and some self-care including; movement, stretching and strengthening, you have a well rounded treatment approach that addresses the symptoms and it’s roots causes!
- Chinese Herbal Medicine is an integral part of Chinese medicine practice, which may help patients to manage a range of symptoms including pain, stress and fatigue. At Acupuncture Works we carry a wide variety of Chinawest capsule and Black Pearl pill Chinese herbal formulas.
- The herbal formulas incorporate mainly plant based substances, may also contain minerals and animal products. Many formulas are considered vegetarian and are commonly labled as such in the Chinawest capsule range.
- We carry capsule and pill forms so that they are easy to administer, with no preparation or boiling needed. There is also no yucky tastes!
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We focus on using Chinese herbal medicine formulas that are used traditionally to assist in the management of the signs and symptoms associated with;
- Musculoskeletal conditions, including; injury, pain, inflammation, headache and arthritis
- Respiratory conditions, including; cold and flu, asthma, hayfever, sinusitis
- Skin conditions, including; eczema and psoriasis
- Mental health conditions, including; stress, anger, depression, anxiety and insomnia
- Digestive conditions, including; Irritable bowel, chrones disease, gastritis and relfux, nausea, constipation, diarrhoea, poor appetite
- Gynecological conditions; painful periods, fibroids, infertility, menopause
- Please be aware the above list contains some of the conditions we can treat. Contact us for more details if your condition is not listed above.
- Chinese medicine is generally considered to be safe but occasionally (as with all health treatments) may be associated with possible adverse reactions in individual cases.
- Exercise is a great companion to your massage and/or acupuncture treatments, especially where mobility, strength or muscle length have been limited.
- Mobility is the most important component to regaining joint movement, it requires enough strength to be stable, enough flexability to be able to move and enough coordination to perform the movement. An immobile (stiff) joint can cause your body to change the way it moves I.E to compensate, this can add stresses in areas that did not have any previous concerns, creating new pains and problems
- We are able to provide you with a tailored program to suit your individual needs. We will take into account your time availability and exercise preferences when putting together your program.
