about

As someone who knows what it means to be completely sidelined with pain and injury, Love knows that effective, portable self-treatment tools aren't a nice-to-have. They're the difference between a productive, pain-free day or limping through and hoping for a "good" day tomorrow.

the rounded edge (un)Block(TM) was developed by Melanie Love, founder of unwind body works and unofficial post-concussion & Ehlers-Danlos syndrome expert.

walking 18 holes to crawling out of bed

Tell me you're not 25 anymore without telling me your age...

Love ended her 2022 golf season with a tweaky back. It didn't hurt all the time but something was amiss. By spring of 2023, she had to crawl out of bed with low back and hip pain. Going for a walk was out of the question. Standing hurt and lying down was only comfortable for short periods.

The more rehab and physical therapy work she did with an increasing legion of pros to solve the problem, the worse it got.

Finally, some diagnostics were ordered and - surprise! - Love was born with a "broken" bottom lower spine (S1 & S2 not fused). She'd had bone on bone grating in her lower spine her whole life, which explained a whole lot - plus some decent nerve damage at L4/L5 in her low back.

No surgery options, and no treatments she hadn't already tried.

self-treatment > suffering between appointments

Love used fascia release self-treatment - Block Therapy using rounded wood blocks (what is BT??)- to help her body recover from five back-to-back concussions 2015-2020.

So she doubled down on what worked before. Working from the bottom up to find some cause sites to enable pain management for her back and hip.

It worked.

Combined with some lifestyle modifications (aqua fitness to take the load off the spine), shorter hikes, no golf (yet...), Love experiences minimal pain most days as long as she can keep up her routine.

portable, on-demand solution

In 2024, Love wasn’t happy with the portable self-serve options to maintain her back during travel.

Various pros recommended lacrosse ball release techniques for on-the-go but the Block Therapy wood blocks were always better and WAY less cringey.

It's hard to let go when your body is bracing against the intensity of a massage ball. Love also bruises like a ripe banana and lacrosse balls leave her black and blue.

She prototyped a rounded edge, wide edge, lightweight foam block for her personal use. It was love at first sight! the (un)Block was born.

seeing is believing

Love started taking them everywhere with her and other people saw them, tried them, then wanted them. One guy even bought them out of her bag on a plane. So she made more.

more than damage control

If you're over 35 like Love is, it can take Ferrari-level precision tuning to keep your fine machinery performing at the level you expect.

Wouldn't it be great to make progress in between tune-ups instead of backsliding into pain and restriction? If your body can be looser and lighter, it lets your pros do more than just damage control to maximize your investment in yourself with your healthcare team.

The (un)Blocks are next level performance-enhancing tools to help you get your edge back - and keep it.