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Crazy new spa treatment--The fish nibble pedicure

chicagotribune.com — "Customer Patsy Fisher, 42, of Crofton, Md., admitted she was nervous as she prepared for her first fish pedicure. But her apprehension dissolved into laughter after she put her feet in the tank and the fish swarmed to her toes. "It's a little ticklish, actually," she said."

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  • ohnoerino, on 07/21/2008, -3/+24Just like the last time I went swimming in Eagle River, Wisconsin...but much more glamorous, obviously.
  • editorsusan, on 07/21/2008, -2/+12I'm way too ticklish -- and too squeamish! -- to give this a try.. . still, I'm oddly intrigued.
    • gavinhudson, on 07/22/2008, -0/+7It does tickle. I live in S. Korea and I just tried this last week. After you get used to the intense sensation, though, it's pretty cool!
  • DeFex, on 07/21/2008, -3/+20watch out for the chinese nailpolish, could end up with some 3 eyed nibblers!
  • acmaurer, on 07/21/2008, -1/+13What if your batch of fish are too full to nibble on your feet?
    • ColonelTribune, on 07/22/2008, -0/+5Lots of dead skin, I guess, but it'd be no worse than a bad pedicure.
  • dougvfr750, on 07/21/2008, -1/+10I had this happen one time in Hawaii but it was some kind of crayfish thing. Freaked me out....
  • zappa717, on 07/22/2008, -0/+10ewww
  • nowsamsara, on 07/22/2008, -0/+12"The razors have fallen out of favor with state regulators because of concerns about whether they're sanitary."

    But my fish tank all died out when I introduced a TB infested white cloud mountain minnow [which is also a member of the carp family]. What many people do not realize about fish TB - unless they've had a tank for a while or are fish specialists - is that fish TB [not human TB and not the same] it is transmissible to humans.

    If I had had an open wound, for example, when cleaning out my fish tank unknowing the minnow i introduced had TB, the TB would have infected it and I have seen some highly nasty images of that! I definitely would not dunk my tootsies with an open wound. MOST fish do not show symptoms of TB for a long while.
    • Brododium, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1I'm currently disinfecting my 15 gal after having a TB infected gourami in there.
      After reading up on fish TB, most people's immune systems will be able to cope against the microbe. People with eczma, people who are old, or are on immunosuppresants are at risk.

      The scary thing is after first seeing the cyst/s, most people usually raise the temperature to around 28 C as one would with ich, but unawares that the higher temperature is preferred by the TB.

      This pisci-cure is hopefully a gimmick that will pass when beauty salons realise they're shutting up shop with tank upon tank of dead/squashed and bloated fish.
  • csonjeow, on 07/22/2008, -1/+17OM NOM NOM NOM NOM...
  • SnottsdaleAz, on 07/23/2008, -7/+4Where do the fish poop? Do they wait until you get your feet out of the water?
    That's just disgusting.
    • evil-doer, on 07/23/2008, -2/+5yet millions of people have cats that walk all over their own piss and ***** in the litterbox then are happy to have them walk all over them and their bed, etc, etc.
      • siszam, on 07/23/2008, -2/+2Cats clean their feet. You. Shut up about cats. :P
  • Xihix, on 07/23/2008, -0/+3Are these doctor fish? I've been looking for some, might help with the psoriasis near the ankles...
    • Arawn, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1Actually, in some east European countries, this practice is used as a psoriasis treatment.
  • mearom, on 07/23/2008, -2/+3I saw this on CNN and such all day today, like there isnt real news to talk about and that this isnt older than paper. Propaganda through ommision
  • 0x0000ff, on 07/23/2008, -1/+8I hate to be the OMG SO OLD guy, but OMG THIS IS SO OLD. I remember seeing it on an Australian TV show called "Getaway" back when I lived with my parents. Before you say it, that was 10 years ago.

    There's a new cafe near my work, they make sandwiches.
    • danz, on 07/23/2008, -0/+2Well this is something new to us and I think it was because it was features on "I survived a Japanese game show" and America was instantly introduced to this.
    • PopcornDave, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1Holy *****! Call CNN!!
      /s
    • chrgrose, on 07/23/2008, -0/+2/random tidbit

      There's a new patch of grass year my porch, it seems to like the dirt.
    • Gonthim, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1How good are the sandwiches?
    • trollhunter, on 07/25/2008, -0/+0Sandwiches rock.
      You are SO lucky.
  • prguitarman, on 07/23/2008, -1/+3I remember reading about the same spa treatments to help treat actual skin disabilities like burns and stuff...like four years ago. This isn't 'new'
  • JCPahl, on 07/23/2008, -1/+13Whenever I see an article like this, I wonder what aliens would think of our culture.
    • PopcornDave, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1But what would you think of theirs? It's all relative.
  • vastatum, on 07/23/2008, -0/+0I've had this done when I was in China, except it was in a hot spring so you could submerge your entire body. The fish nibble your feet, legs, arms and back if you stay really still. They seemed to like the feet the most though. I guess that's where the most dead skin is.
  • StealDragon, on 07/23/2008, -1/+1This isn't new at all, you hear about this treatment all the time in Japanese and Chinese spas.
  • martha3855, on 07/23/2008, -2/+0Ahh...
    I'm not willing to eat that fish...
    By the way... this is new technique
  • Eagle193, on 07/23/2008, -0/+2Fish do it all the time. Look up "wrasse".
  • ib42, on 07/23/2008, -0/+0Yes, I read this ages ago, but it was about this 'fish nibbling' treatment for psoriasis in some foreign country. I wonder if it would work on genital herpes warts! A fun way to get rid of them!!
  • peanutsinmypooh, on 07/23/2008, -1/+0I heard they started service sushi right after the pedicure.
  • supersoyboy, on 07/23/2008, -0/+7why is it that when fish do it, its cute, but when I do it its considered harrassment?
  • fudged71, on 07/23/2008, -4/+1new?

    i saw this on the ***** discovery channel in ~1995
    buried as inaccurate
    • ohnoerino, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1The article clearly says that the spa mentioned in the story is the only spa in the U.S. that offers this service. Hence, U.S. news coverage. Hence, new.
      • fudged71, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1no, it is an inaccurate title
        "Crazy new spa treatment"
        it is not a new spa treatment. locally, sure, but that doesn't make it a new spa treatment
  • mroboy, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1I read this story earlier and tried to get my wife to roll play and be one of these fish to nibble off the dead skin on my *OUCH!* didn't realize she was right behind me.
  • highlyhigh, on 07/23/2008, -0/+0are they getting paid by hour or by nibbles?
  • blankoboy, on 07/23/2008, -0/+2I don't see what's so "Crazy!" about this.
  • davideparker, on 07/23/2008, -3/+0How about not posting this yet again? Buried, of course.
  • staystellar, on 07/23/2008, -2/+0that's ***** foul! barf out guts... XD
  • danomagnum, on 07/23/2008, -0/+7I can see it now... "Local teen replaces carp with piranhas... Hilarity does not ensue."
  • babyloutattoo, on 07/23/2008, -3/+1Wait til PETA gets a load of this.
  • ansatsu29, on 07/23/2008, -0/+3The communal pool also presented its own problem: At times the fish would flock to the feet of an individual with a surplus of dead skin, leaving others with a dearth of fish.

    "It would sometimes be embarrassing for them but it was also really hilarious," Ho said.


    yeah, the fish liked that foot and must have thought is was some grubbly fish feed.
  • ChLb, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1They have this in Japan as a spa treatment.
  • jasoninoakland, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1Wilhelmina Slater had this done on her feet this past season on Ugly Betty.
  • chrgrose, on 07/23/2008, -1/+1Tip from personal experience: if you have a minor cut or scab, cover it or don't do it. I remember jumping into a spring with these little guys and it was pretty cool having them peck at me for a while. They like to go after easy to chomp elevations from your skin like happens with a small cut or a healing scap wound. I had a cut on my toe and they were really going for it. At first I thought it might be good because maybe they would actually just get rid of the dead part of the skin but 10 minutes later I look down and see blood squirting into the water! A serious wtf moment.
  • AnotherBrian, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1Anyone else remember that episode of Penn and Teller's ***** on Alternative Medicine where they gave people a facial massage with snails?
  • ShebearMasha, on 07/23/2008, -0/+0i want to try that (i mean not to eat of course) :)
  • grneye53, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1and this is what SCOBLE is crying about .
  • tresvold, on 07/25/2008, -0/+0this sounds really cool i wish i could try it out
  • sg3612Jop, on 08/15/2008, -0/+0I saw this procedure on Ugly Betty last season, what if they nibble too much, that's got to hurt!
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