How I came to MELT

Several decades ago, my feet decked out in platform shoes, I took a step backward and realized I was about to step on the box of jewelry I’d made from buttons recently inherited from my mother. Attempting to avoid crushing the box I’d filed on the floor, I severely twisted and sprained my left ankle.

I went to the chiropractor for a few treatments, wore a brace, did the exercises he recommended. My ankle healed within a few weeks. Later, if I felt any ache, I took flaxseed oil and that took care of the inflammation. Or did it?

Years later, the ache returned, flaxseed oil or no. And my left shin started to feel like it was detaching from my knee, to the sound of lots of clicking.

I eventually took myself to the best physical therapist in town, according to several friends and health care providers. The exercises she gave me to strengthen certain muscles in my butt seemed to resolve the problem — and then they didn’t, apparently making matters worse.

After a year of physical therapy, I heard about MELT from a friend and fellow yoga teacher. I invested in the MELT balls and soft roller. In less than a year of MELTing, my ankle and knee are pain-free. My left foot and leg fully take my weight; my left side is as grounded as my right; my lower body is rebalanced.

The way I understand it, while physical therapy saw my problem as an imbalance in the strength of my gluteal muscles, the real problem was the remaining stiffness, however slight, in my left ankle. As long as that stiffness remained, my body compensated by shifting weight off my left leg and into the right leg. What’s more, a disconnect between nerves and muscles in my left leg made that leg inefficient at bending at the knee.

By rehydrating the connective tissue and restoring its elasticity, MELT eliminated the stiffness in my left ankle and repaired the communication between muscle and nerve.

I’ve calculated the cost of the physical therapy which didn’t work for me — and compared it to the cost of practicing MELT, which did. Of course, practicing MELT has provided benefits that go way beyond restoring my left leg, but that’s another story.

The total cost for a year of physical therapy treatment — including physician referrals, orthotics, and exercise ball was $3,154. The Medicare-approved amount was $1,442. My out-of-pocket expenses, excluding insurance premiums were $357.

The total cost for the bundle of MELT balls, soft roller, book, and DVDs was $169.

Total Cost        Medicare-Approved Cost       Out-of-Pocket Expense       MELT
$3,154             $1,442                                        $357                                      $169