WELL-BEING

Is a cloth ball filled with herbs a remedy for stiff limbs?

Unwind and loosen tight muscles with a Herbal Compress Massage

Suffering from achy muscles? There’s now a treatment on offer at the Wellness Centre at the Khalidiya Palace Rayhaan By Rotana that aims to soothe aching limbs using a technique that dates back 5,000 years, to Thailand.

The Herbal Compress Massage is a 90-minute spa session that uses a compress – a heated piece of muslin shaped like a ball and filled with spices. It’s claimed that using one of these with massage techniques will relieve muscle tension and inflamation.

The Wellness Centre certainly embraces the treatment’s Asian routes – Thaiinfluenced spa music helps to create a calming atmopshere, as do small, fake battery-powered candles. The only issue during What’s On’s trip was this environment being hindered by some over exuberant aircon – it’s hard to relax when you feel chilly.

The therapist uses an aromatherapy massage technique during the session, with a little bit of Thai massage thrown in for good measure. This involves the therapist sitting on your hamstrings on their knees and stretching your calves by pulling your toes towards you, for example. All the stretching and massaging was well executed, but those two in particular were highlights. A lavender body oil is also used to help relieve muscle tension.

The compress’s job is also to loosen tight limbs, and overall, it’s a satisfying experience, although on occasion, it was applied a little too hot – combined with the chill in the room and it was hard to completely relax when you need to jolt.

Overall though, the session did give our achy limbs some much needed TLC.

Khalidiya Palace Rayhaan By Rotana, Corniche Road, Abu Dhabi, daily 10am to 10pm, Dhs495. Tel: (02) 6570182. Taxi: Khalidiya Palace. rotanatimes.com