If you live in Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, Washington, or New Hampshire, you won’t be able to find the latest trend in foot care on your local salon menu. That’s because these states have outlawed the fish pedicure, a fad that is quickly gaining press coverage throughout the country. The trend is popular in Asia, where customers can dip their feet into a large bowl of water, inhabited by dozens of tiny fish known as garra rufa, or doctor fish. These tiny, toothless fish nibble away at dead and dried up skin, removing it in a similar fashion as a normal pedicure might.
State legislatures have been quick to ban the practice, citing several preexisting rules, including the prohibition of pets and animals in a salon, as well as sanitation standards set in place for pedicures. But at a Virginia salon, customers are flocking to come get their feet nibbled on by the doctor fish. At Yvonne Salon, with locations in Alexandria and Woodbridge, VA, the practice has been all the rage, being featured on the Tyra Banks’ Show and NPR, as well as the local news.
The tiny fish don’t have any teeth, so it is more of a sucking, or “kissing” feeling for the customers. Garra rufa originate in the river basins of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, where the fish were first used as a treatment for psoriasis. While the fish did not cure anyone’s psoriasis, they did help treat the symptoms, nibbling away at the dead and dried flesh of the spa-goers. Since 2006, the fish have been used in commercial day-spas, starting in Japan and China, and finally finding their way to the United States.
While the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) has not officially made a statement regarding the use of fish in pedicures, there are clearly some sanitation issues that arise. The cleanliness of the fish and water that the fish live in is certainly an issue, as well as any skin conditions that the customer might have. The effectiveness of fish pedicures has also been brought up, as it is difficult to compare this process to that of a traditional pedicure.
For now, it remains a fad in foot care. But if you want to try it for yourself, it may involve traveling to Virginia, or another state where fish pedicures have not yet been banned.
Central Florida Foot and Ankle Center
101 6th St. Nw
Winter Haven, Fl. 33881
Phone: 863-299-4551
www.FLFootandAnkle.com
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