When it comes to easing stress, insomnia and nagging, painful knots in the neck and shoulders, Chinese cupping therapy is one of the most effective therapies around.
But it can be hard to find practitioners, painful when the cups that are suctioned to the skin are removed and weird to walk around with circular bruises all over your back for days after.
That's why I was intrigued by Tips & Toes new Cup Kiss full body massage, which attempts to incorporate the therapeutic benefits of cupping into a luxurious 90-minute treatment.
The difference is that rather than being suctioned in place (via heat created by an open flame, which is extinguished before the cups are applied), the cups are a softer silicone variety. In the Cup Kiss massage, the therapist moves a cup along the skin – hence no bruising.
The much-less dramatic suction creates a more gentle sensation along the muscles, fascia and skin. The therapist at Abu Dhabi’s Khaleej branch – near the junction of Khaleej Al Arabi and Mohamed Bin Khalifa/15th Street – began on my back and shoulders with a traditional massage using lavender-scented oil. When she moved on to the cup she first ran it lengthwise down my back, concentrating on either side of my spine, then out from the spine width-wise. Then she massaged the area again with her hands, working out any knots she came across.
The same procedure went for my legs and arms – front and back. Most of the time the very gentle suction felt great, even better than a pair of hands, but it did hurt in spots, particularly around my shoulders, parts of my thighs, around my hips and on the back of my arms – places where my fascia was presumably tightest.
After I had turned over she switched to coconut oil, first massaging my face and then gently using one of the cups on it, explaining that the gentle suction helped with puffiness. (It did).
While I can’t be sure that the massage actually did anything to reduce my cellulite or detoxify, as promised, the aches and pains I often feel in my legs and shoulders from a seated job had been reduced considerably, if only temporarily.
I also felt clear-headed, refreshed and entirely relaxed, going on to have an amazing night’s sleep.
Basically, the Tips & Toes Cup Kiss massage incorporates some of the less pesky elements of traditional Chinese cupping therapy, skipping most of the pain and bruising.
Another bonus of this treatment is that it’s a veritable chilling-out bargain: Dh320 for 90 minutes of pure relaxation, at least half the price of a treatment of similar-length in a hotel.
• The Cup Kiss massage is Dh320 for 90 minutes and is also offered as a Dh5 to Dh15-minute add-on to other treatments from Dh45. To find your nearest branch go to Tips N Toes or call 04 399 0550.
This review was done at the invitation of Tips N Toes.
amcqueen@thenational.ae
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Top goalscorers in Europe
34 goals - Robert Lewandowski (68 points)
34 - Ciro Immobile (68)
31 - Cristiano Ronaldo (62)
28 - Timo Werner (56)
25 - Lionel Messi (50)
*29 - Erling Haaland (50)
23 - Romelu Lukaku (46)
23 - Jamie Vardy (46)
*NOTE: Haaland's goals for Salzburg count for 1.5 points per goal. Goals for Dortmund count for two points per goal.
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Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Friday Athletic Bilbao v Celta Vigo (Kick-off midnight UAE)
Saturday Levante v Getafe (5pm), Sevilla v Real Madrid (7.15pm), Atletico Madrid v Real Valladolid (9.30pm), Cadiz v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday Granada v Huesca (5pm), Osasuna v Real Betis (7.15pm), Villarreal v Elche (9.30pm), Alaves v Real Sociedad (midnight)
Monday Eibar v Valencia (midnight)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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- 46 v West Indies in Port of Spain, March 25, 1994
- 51 v West Indies in Kingston, February 4, 2009
- 52 v Australia at The Oval, August 14, 1948
- 53 v Australia at Lord's, July 16, 1888
- 58 v New Zealand in Auckland, March 22, 2018
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Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
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5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Dars, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Taghzel, Malin Holmberg, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: M’Y Yaromoon, Khalifa Al Neyadi, Jesus Rosales
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- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
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Results
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Reem Baynounah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Mohamed Daggash (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Afham, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
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The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
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"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
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"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
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Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
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Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
