Ready for the latest in spa pampering? Prepare to dunk your feet in a tank of water and let tiny carp nibble away.
Fish pedicures are creating something of a splash in the Washington D.C. area, where a northern Virginia spa has been offering them for the past four months. John Ho, who runs the Yvonne Hair and Nails salon with his wife, Yvonne Le, said 5,000 people have taken the plunge so far…
He said he wanted to come up with something unique while finding a replacement for pedicures that use razors to scrape off dead skin. The razors have fallen out of favor with state regulators because of concerns about whether they’re sanitary.
Ho was skeptical at first about the fish, which are called garra rufa but typically known as doctor fish. They were first used in Turkey and have become popular in some Asian countries.
Customers were quickly hooked. [Har!]
Ho believes his is the only salon in the country to offer the treatment, which costs $35 for 15 minutes and $50 for 30 minutes. The spa has more than 1,000 fish, with about 100 in each individual pedicure tank at any given time.
I wonder how well this works on other parts of the body?
Actually i think they use a similar treatment for some skin deseases.
Can’t remember how it’s called, i know you treat it with UV rays … anybody ?
What does it cost if your smelly feet kill all the fish ?
[edit: comments guide]
#1: Eczema. I saw a news story quite a few years ago about it. I remember thinking how neat that was and how strange it probably felt.
I showed this to my wife, and since it is near my house she says she is actually going to give it a try!
I nearly fell off my chair when she told me!
I”m guessing someone at the associated press watches that “I’m on a Japanese gameshow” reality show since a couple weeks ago the people on it went to a spa and they had these.
Still, pretty neat.
#2, yeah inquiring minds want to know. In fact imagine being the fish after a long day. they have to live in basically reused bathwater
Gross, maybe if they incinerated the fish after every use… otherwise you are getting someone else’s stinku fish!
hey a great practical joke, swap the out with some piranha!!
#4
They also use these fishes for treating Psoriasis.
Fish abuse. The Piscatorial Rights Board will get them.
wonder if it would be cheaper to just get your own bucket of fish, and feed them your dead skin callouses from your hands, feet, elbows and knees? Then you’d just have to change the water out about every week or so.
#12
Uh… No, These are fishes from a specific are in Turkey famous for having these ponds where people with skin diseases go and get some relief from the constant nibbling of the fishes.
So a regular fish will not do a good job.
Sunfish in lakes in New Jersey have pecked gently often during dusk.
Parrotfish in the caribbean are always willing to peck on dog buscuits and the occasional fingernail, such as my wife’s.
I think a lot of fish are likely to peck. There are some beautiful fishes to differentiate your spa business.
For the sake of the expensive to keep saltwater fish, I would clean the patrons feet beforehand. I would also discard the used footwater and not dump that into the main fishtank.
Sooner or later, they’re going to get into the rivers and lakes and screw over our native species.
#15 fat chance, them snake-head fishes already claimed those lakes and rivers ^^
wow!
it only makes you feel ticklish, not pain.
try it! however, it is quite expensive( charged based on minutes)
fish pedicure treatment