Getting Rid of Pain with the MELT Method

MELT Method Hand and Foot Treatment Kit

Earlier this year a friend of mine posted she had been to the Hand and Foot MELT training. I was intrigued so I looked it up and saw it was balls and rollers and what looked to me on initial review to be pressure point massage. I have been using a foam roller for years and recommend them often to yoga students, runners, cyclists, etc that are feeling pain. Based on my previous knowledge of foam rolling, reflexology and fascia I thought MELT would be a great compliment to what I already teach. An boy was I right!

I just got back from the Hand and Foot MELT Training and am so excited to share how just a few minutes a day can help keep a person pain free. I mean, who doesn't feel pain every once in a while? I consider myself a fairly healthy person without a lot of pain but sometimes I get a crick in my neck or I get what feels like a knot in my muscles or when I am crazy enough to think I can run more than a 10K and my legs cramp up. Pain happens. Kind of like S**t. It just happens. But that doesn't mean you have to live with it.

Here is a real example that happened to me this weekend.

We were sitting for most of the two days learning about fascia, nerves, pressure points, etc. I was sitting at an angle I guess my body didn't completely agree with because once we took a break and stood up, I all the sudden felt a crick in my neck and had this pinching pain on the right side of my neck and shoulder area. When this happens at home I usually put some Tiger Balm on the area or get a neck roll, warm it up and put it around the area.

I didn't have any of those things but we were about to do a foot treatment. We started with the left foot and after just a few minutes on the left foot I all the sudden noticed my neck didn't hurt anymore! No more pain! IN MY NECK? How the heck does pressing on my feet help my neck? The body is an amazing thing. The connective tissue, fascia, that is just below the skin is all over the body and is all connected, thus I am sure why it is called "connective" tissue. So you can effect an area not close to the feet by simply pressing on some points and sending fluid through the body.

I vaguely knew this because of reflexology but I've never studied it and haven't done reflexology in response to a pain, it has always been as an add-on to a massage treatment.

What was completely the ah-ha moment was when Sue said connective tissue can be dehydrated, even if you drink a lot of water and most of the time what we feel when we are tight or stiff is not so much about the muscles, it is dehydrated connective tissue. And dehydrated connective tissue can create pain in your joints, stiffness, reduced movement and imbalance.

Want to learn more about MELT? Want to try it? Connect with me on twitter for news on upcoming classes, I'll be teaching classes in Austin and the Dallas area. If you are interested in more immediate help, email me at carolyn (at) bikerunyoga (dot) com.

Purchase MELT products and Sue's new book!

I took a full MELT Class the day before training started.

This is super cool, bunion treatment! 

Sue Hitzmann and me after the training, MELTed and happy!