By Jayna Davis
The fish pedicure has got to be the cutest foot-care treatment I've ever heard of. Before you ask, yes, the term "fish pedicure" is exactly what it sounds like: fish giving you a pedicure.
Getting Your Feet Wet
Conventionally, people would use razors to get rid of any scales or calluses they have on their feet. It's not exactly the safest or most comfortable way to go about it, but it's one of the cheapest and commonest ways to smooth down scaly feet.
A great alternative to razors is the fish pedicure. It doesn't involve any sharp objects scraping dangerously close to major arteries, just some warm water, and a lot of really small fish. Depending on where you get your underwater foot treatment, you could be plunging your tootsies into a warm footbath with a hundred or more of these tiny, toothless carp called garra rufa.
These fish thrive in hot water, which, unsurprisingly, doesn't really support much of the aquatic life they eat. So, when a tasty human foot comes along, they'll swim up to you and eat their fill of your dead skin. Usually, letting the fish go at it for about fifteen to thirty minutes is enough for most people to come out of it with really soft, completely callus-free tootsies.
A lot of spas will follow up their fish treatment with an actual pedicure, which many say becomes a lot easier because of how soft the skin becomes after the fish are done with you.
No Worries About Piranha Movies
Being toothless, these little guys won't be able to get to any of your live skin, so if you're worried about suffering the fate of a movie extra in a piranha flick, stop. Barring a really unlikely freak accident where a stray fish might mistakenly decide to swim up places where "the sun don't shine," garra rufa are harmless to humans.
And they're really cute.
On top of that, even though these guys are essentially eating your skin, a lot of customers say that it doesn't hurt when they do. They say it's more of a ticklish, tingly sensation, like your foot's fallen asleep or being really gently massaged.
Doctor Fish!
The whole fish spa thing got its start in Turkey, but it's spread to a lot of parts of Asia, and it's making a bit of a splash in the United States, too.
In the US though, even though the novelty of the fish pedicure has made it a hit among customers, US health officials are still a little worried about whether or not using skin-eating fish to clean your feet of extra stuff would be particularly sanitary. A lot of people swear by it though, and a lot of the time, customers have nothing but praise for the treatment.
Garra rufa are also referred to as "doctor fish" and "nibble fish" and for good reason: When they nibble away at your dead skin, they can also relieve some of the symptoms of skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and skin asthma. A few minutes in a tub full of these great little guys will give your smooth, younger-looking skin that all but glows with health.
What could possibly be cuter than that?
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