[BrodiKennedy]

I found this article online this morning at Bigpond.com News.....I think the fish are going to take over the world......!!!!


Toothless fish pedicure hits US
Friday, April 09, 2010 » 09:30am
skynews_1057674587.jpg
The latest beauty treatment craze sweeping the world is a fish pedicure.

In the procedure, a person plunges their feet into a tank of water filled with tiny carp called Doctor fish or Garra Rufa, who have a fondness for dead skin.

The toothless fish nibble away any dead skin on the foot, leaving them silky smooth.

As the fish do not have any teeth, the procedure is painless, but does tickle.

A treatment can last anywhere between 15-30 minutes depending on the person's foot and most finish with a foot massage and nail trimming.

The procedure has long been accepted throughout Asia but is breaking new ground in the US.

It has become popular Washington DC where it is being offered at a Northern Virginia spa.

Men and women are buying into the craze.

[crycleascentyv]

I saw a couple posts on U.S. fish spas. Prices ranged from the equivalent of about 1150 to 2000 baht. In some states, the requirement to clean the "equipment" between customers made it impossible to operate a fish spa, but in other states it seems to be allowed as long as the water is changed.

State Laws according to Spavelous magazine:
http://www.spavelous.com/EB/N081024/...a-fish-04.html

[aburva.org]

They are springing up now! We saw one in the new Central Festival shopping centre in Pattaya recently.

[Hamucevasiop]

don't you had to wash your feet first. smelly feet aaaaaa.

[L8fGLM4d]

There maybe a variety of fish that eat the hair on your legs as well, better than a wax job.

wax? you must be joking. I am not a mazochist.

[BrodiKennedy]

i done this the other day in pattaya, and bargain, 20mins of fishy feet and 40mins thai massage 150bht!!!!! now i have very ticklish feet and the fist 5 minutes i nearly bottled it and said no more, but after a while its ok, my feet did feel really smooth after.

that is a bargain Ian, myself and Herman the German did the same when the pictures were taken...but they charged us 200 baht......it is a very good combo...feet eating fish for 20 minutes and then a foot rub for 40.....

[kabelshik]

Nibbling by the fish was started in Turkey which is use for health treatment. Certain hospitals in Turkey are offering such service. The name of the fish call Garra Rufa or Kangal fish or Dr Fish . Later on it was introduced to Japan, Korea, China as fish spa. Since the Garra Rufa is prohibited to export from Turkey, someone had found the equivalent fish Call "Qin Qin Fish" from China. One years later this fish spa was booming tremendously in South East Asia especially in Malaysia. We could see the fish spa everywhere in Malaysia during the year 2008 and it was slowly cool down until now.

[BrodiKennedy]

don't you had to wash your feet first. smelly feet aaaaaa.

hey Zakk, the lady at the spa washes your feet for you before you put them in the fish tank.....

[L8fGLM4d]

Sanang Manora and Raman forest parks (both very near Phang Nga town) and Khao Phanom Benja NP (near Krabi) both have lots of doctor fish in the pools. the former are free, the latter charges NP fees.

[aburva.org]

The lady at the spa told me the name of the fish…..I asked, because I thought what a great idea to set up in Australia……I can’t remember the name nor could I get my tongue around the pronunciation at the time, all those Thai lessons gone to waste……on the 3 visits (in 4 days) I have made there, there have been 1 or 2 dead ones in the tank each time, death by chocking on dead skin I suppose…I took one out on the 2nd visit, to be buried in the rubbish bin a small throw away, but it just looked like any small fish you would see in any home aquarium, maybe someone can help with the make and model of these fish.

You should stop in and give it a go Richard next time you see a sign, or you could ask your neighbour if you could just pop your feet in his pond for 20 minutes and see what happens…….I’m not sure how the people would go who don’t like to have their feet touched or tickled, I think it would be a nightmare for them.

If these fish are not already native to Australia there is NO chance of importing them legally. However there may be a fish native to Oz which does this.

There is such a fish in South America, it's called a piranha.

[Borzopayn]

I saw one of those places last November when I was in Bangkok. It caught my eye as I had seen a news item in the U.S. where some health departments were banning them.

While looking around for the name of those fish, which looks to be Garra Rufa (»ÅÒ¡ÒÃÒÃÙ¿Ò), I found some other interesting information on the same Thai health site. It says those fish are expensive as they have to be imported, which may cause some entrepreneurs to take the cheap route and substitute a different type of fish with sharper teeth, increasing the risk for wounds. So you should verify the species first. They also warn against using the service soon after cutting your toenails or shaving your legs, as even micro cuts are big enough to let in waterborne bacteria. Also, there's a high risk of contracting a kind of Tuberculosis (Çѳâäà·ÕÂÁ), and some bacteria are chlorine resistant.

http://www.thaihealth.or.th/node/12954

[77Dinaartickire]

We wondered: do they put something on your skin to attract the fish?

No, the fish Garra Rufa are just attracted to dead skin cells which they eat. They leave alone any healthy living skin cells.

David

[BrodiKennedy]

Do you know if it is any kind of fish. Could I dip my feet in my next door neighbour's aquarium? I have seen an increasing number of spas advertising this locally but have never inquired about it.

The lady at the spa told me the name of the fish…..I asked, because I thought what a great idea to set up in Australia……I can’t remember the name nor could I get my tongue around the pronunciation at the time, all those Thai lessons gone to waste……on the 3 visits (in 4 days) I have made there, there have been 1 or 2 dead ones in the tank each time, death by chocking on dead skin I suppose…I took one out on the 2nd visit, to be buried in the rubbish bin a small throw away, but it just looked like any small fish you would see in any home aquarium, maybe someone can help with the make and model of these fish.

You should stop in and give it a go Richard next time you see a sign, or you could ask your neighbour if you could just pop your feet in his pond for 20 minutes and see what happens…….I’m not sure how the people would go who don’t like to have their feet touched or tickled, I think it would be a nightmare for them.

[crycleascentyv]

We saw a couple in the window of a fish spa in Chiang Mai. They didn't seem happy to be on display to others, but they didn't seem to be suffering any discomfort from the fish.

We wondered: do they put something on your skin to attract the fish?

[DoterrFor]

don't want to sit in a shop window and have strangers staring at my hairy legs

There maybe a variety of fish that eat the hair on your legs as well, better than a wax job.

[ZXRamon]

A friend of mine took me to my first fish spa the other day, just a huge fish tank with a long seat down one side, located right outside the front window of a Thai foot massage business……how bizarre I thought……..but I knew I would be an instant fan because I loved the feeling of the fish nibbled at my toes as I cooled them off in the pools at Erawan Falls..

And I wasn’t disappointed it is a very funny feeling having both your feet and ankles nibbled at by about 50 little fish……I was so impressed that the next day I took my neighbour (Herman the Germany) along, once his feet were in the water he could stop giggling and had a huge smile on his face the whole time.

fish spa.JPG fish spa 1.JPG fish spa 2.JPG

fish spa 3.JPG fish spa 4.JPG fish spa 5.JPG


This is the first one I have seen, has anyone else tired this?
Is this something that the Thais have always done?

I remember in the early 90,s visiting thai friends in Rayong and they took us to to a waterfall in the national park nearbye, it was a very stiff climb so we stopped and bathed our feet in a rockpool our feet were immediately surrounded by fish who nibbled our feet and legs it was an exhilarating and refreshing feeling,but then it was just another wonder of thailand!!

[zlopikanikanzax]

I think the fish might be called the Garra Rufa ( The Doctor Fish). I tried it last year in November when i was in Chiang Mai and found it a nice relaxing way to pass an hour or so out of the miday sun.

[TOD4wDTQ]

It tickles lol. I couldn't stay in water at Erawan

[cajonnmu]

There is an article in the Bangkok Post today with more details:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/heal...fishy-going-on

[Hamucevasiop]

I am searching in Pukhet but still cannot locate the shop.