# Anyone had a 'fish pedicure'?



## Val2 (Mar 9, 2011)

In my small village here in Spain we are getting not one but TWO fish pedicure salons, plus my golf course also offers this service! Has anyone had this before? And does it work?


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## Stephen_Melling (Jun 26, 2011)

Heard about these and some friends have tried it. Can't say whether it worked for them, only that if I were to indulge they'd need barracudas!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

They are often banned here in Chicago.  The health department says they are unsanitary.


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## Picatsso (Mar 24, 2011)

Ok I give up....what in the world is a fish pedicure?


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## Val2 (Mar 9, 2011)

Picatsso said:


> Ok I give up....what in the world is a fish pedicure?


You sit with your feet in a bath of water with about 100 little fishes in it that nibble away at the dead skin around your toes. makes the actual pedicure easier. I believe it tickles a bit and may feel like your feet are going to sleep but it removes all the dead skin as that is the only part that the fish eat. I think I would probably end up squashing the fish when they tickle my feet! So I'd have to pay for the fish??


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Val2 said:


> You sit with your feet in a bath of water with about 100 little fishes in it that nibble away at the dead skin around your toes. makes the actual pedicure easier. I believe it tickles a bit and may feel like your feet are going to sleep but it removes all the dead skin as that is the only part that the fish eat. I think I would probably end up squashing the fish when they tickle my feet! So I'd have to pay for the fish??


Hey, that doesn't sound as terrible as what I envisioned. I was picturing them massaging fish guts into your skin or something. I don't think I'd mind this so much - as long as I can keep from stepping on them. It'd be an interesting experience. Growing up, we used to swim in the creek a lot and little minnows were always nibbling at our legs and feet.


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## Erica Sloane (May 11, 2011)

Who in the world figured that out? That's what I'd like to know.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Wow...um, I don't think I'd like little fish eating my dead skin.

And where do these fish live in the wild? Is there somewhere in the world where feet grow under the water?

Vicki


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

I'd like to try it.


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## Jaasy (Feb 28, 2009)

I think I'll pass on this one...

http://www.google.com/search?q=fish+pedicure&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=SM7&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&prmd=ivnsu&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=Mw0NTvLcGZDRiALytezTDQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CCgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=548


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

No way. Yuck.


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## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

I think I would try it my feet are so dry from the dry heat and flipflops

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk


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## Coral Moore (Nov 29, 2009)

Victorine said:


> Wow...um, I don't think I'd like little fish eating my dead skin.
> 
> And where do these fish live in the wild? Is there somewhere in the world where feet grow under the water?
> 
> Vicki


Haha! I assume these fish probably eat any sort of dead tissue. In the wild they might behave something like a remora on a shark, follow around bigger fishes and eat their leavings or sloughed off scales? Total speculation here, don't know anything about those particular fish, but that's what I'm imagining.

Edited to add: I don't think I'd try it. I don't know, I might be convinced if I could be assured that they wouldn't be capable of spreading diseases from one person to another.


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## Val2 (Mar 9, 2011)

Coral said:


> Haha! I assume these fish probably eat any sort of dead tissue. In the wild they might behave something like a remora on a shark, follow around bigger fishes and eat their leavings or sloughed off scales? Total speculation here, don't know anything about those particular fish, but that's what I'm imagining.
> 
> Edited to add: I don't think I'd try it. I don't know, I might be convinced if I could be assured that they wouldn't be capable of spreading diseases from one person to another.


The fish is called a Garra Rufa. I believe that they are a type of toothless carp that nibble on dead skin. I don't know that I would try it and I have also been wondering if any infection could be passed on from one person to another. But I have just read how popular it is becoming in the UK.


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## journeymama (May 30, 2011)

I think they come from South East Asia. I remember we found them in a temple pond before there were fish pedicures, so I've had them nibble at my fingers, but never my feet. Couldn't resist letting the kids sit and put their feet in at an outdoor spa in Bangkok one time, though. Oh, the laughing and shrieking! 

I don't THINK they're unsanitary... but? My opinion is that they're more of a silly thing, don't help as much as their purported to, but they're fun.


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## scl (Feb 19, 2011)

I don't think they are necessarily unsanitary, but the government here seems to think so based on something I saw a while back in a newspaper, so I don't think you can get one legally here in Florida.


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## Todd Young (May 2, 2011)

I've never had a pedicure, but if I decide to, fish are on the top of list.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

I was about to, from a salon called "Dr. Fish".

But I was afraid I would be tickled to death.

If someone wants, I will put up a photograph of the salon and provide a link to it.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

I got one when I was in Kuala Lumpur a couple years ago.    They had three sizes of fish and the little teeny ones REALLY tickled but the medium and larger really felt great.   

The fish themselves were cool and I met this interesting Iranian student having his feel nibbled on at the same time.   I was a fun, communal experience and I'd be willing to do it again.


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## Beth Groundwater (Apr 6, 2011)

I had one in Cambodia. You stick your feet into a tank of little fish and they nibble the dead skin off, leaving the feet smooth and soft. It's terribly ticklish for the first minute and a half or so, then you get used to it. My husband has a photo of me with my fingernails gripping the top of the tank like claws and a grimace on my face during that ticklish part. But it was a fun and interesting experience. Yes, I'm sure the tank was filthy, but so are the streets in Cambodia, which i was walking in sandals. As long as you don't have any open sores on your feet, I'd say go for it!


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## kdawna (Feb 16, 2009)

Wow... I hate to be tickled anywhere...but little fishes nibbling sounds cool.  How long would that take?  I have never paid for a pedicure. How much do they charge for something like that?
Brenda


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I think I remember a segment on it on a TV magazine show.  Fish pedicures originated or at least are popular in Japan.

I sorta had one in July of '67.  A friend and I went to Nassau, Bahamas.  We took a side trip to Paradise Island when it was just starting to be constructed.  We sat on the beach in shallow water for some time.  Fish would nibble on our feet and legs.  Sitting in water like that I got the darkest tan ever.  Had developed it slowly so no burn.  When I got home, I was so dark Mom said, "What happened to you?!"


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## cc84 (Aug 6, 2010)

My sister had this a few weeks ago. She said it felt great afterwards, and during it just felt like been tickled. She is strange though, when she goes abroad she won't swim in the ocean because of the fish in their touching her, but she'll stick her feet in a bowl of them and let them eat her dead skin. I don't get that logic


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## Beth Groundwater (Apr 6, 2011)

kdawna said:


> Wow... I hate to be tickled anywhere...but little fishes nibbling sounds cool. How long would that take? I have never paid for a pedicure. How much do they charge for something like that?
> Brenda


They're really cheap in Cambodia--$3 and a beer came with it! It took about 15-20 minutes.


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## Katie Salidas (Mar 21, 2010)

Though it sounds icky and all, I'd probably be game to try it. Like another poster said, when I was a kid I would fish in the creeks and minnows would nibble at our feet. It tickled but I never considered it really gross. This sounds on par with that, except for the fact that you are paying for the service.


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## Val2 (Mar 9, 2011)

Well, the first Happy Feet Foot Spa has now opened and I went in and had a look this morning. Two teenagers were having their feet 'done'. The fish are tiny, smaller than I thought they would be, only about an inch long. The kids were sitting with their feet in a bath with fish nibbling away and they both said it was ticklish but do-able.


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

Dara England said:


> Hey, that doesn't sound as terrible as what I envisioned. I was picturing them massaging fish guts into your skin or something. I don't think I'd mind this so much - as long as I can keep from stepping on them. It'd be an interesting experience. Growing up, we used to swim in the creek a lot and little minnows were always nibbling at our legs and feet.


Eeuw, sounds gross.

I guess it would be even worse if the fish they used were piranhas.


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## Val2 (Mar 9, 2011)

Yes, euros 15 for half an hour seems a bit much. For that I can get ten glasses of VERY good Spanish wine which would take me a lot longer to drink than half an hour!!! Might just go with the wine!!


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

No, but it sounds like fun


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## WendyWitch76 (7 mo ago)

Val2 said:


> In my small village here in Spain we are getting not one but TWO fish pedicure salons, plus my golf course also offers this service! Has anyone had this before? And does it work?


I’ve always wanted to try this, but after reading that it’s been banned in a lot of places and that you could catch illness (HIV, Hepatitis) and infections as they can change the water after each client but they can’t clean the fish who carry the illness it just too risky. Having said that, I went to Hawaii and travelled the road to Hana and came across a few water holes at the bottom of some waterfalls and as soon as I put my feet in the water, hundreds of those fish started giving me a pedicure! I loved it and felt way more safe as it was in large bodies of water. The feeling is weird at first but then it becomes almost soothing. It was a great experience. And the best part was it was free and had no time limit


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