Thursday, August 21, 2014

A BIG NO TO FISH SPAS





Have you been to a fish spa?

If the same question will be thrown at me, then my answer will be in the negative. Moreover, I don’t intend to, not even in my wildest of imaginations.

If my research serves me right, this fad started in Japan, Croatia, and Turkey, and has spread to other countries including the Philippines. Fish spas use garra rufa fish, also known as “doctor fish”, to nibble on or take away dead skin cells.




The trick of the trade is to submerge your feet (and other extremities) in a pool or aquarium filled with doctor fish. Soon after, the creatures will swarm around your feet, and will start to feast on your dead skin cells and other decaying skin matter.

Yummeh!

According to Wikipedia, the fish sloughs off dead skin cells in the process of searching for food. In other words, the fish simply discards those, and does not eat them.

I cannot imagine sticking my feet in water filled with dead skin cells from other persons’ feet, combined with fecal matter from the nibblers, and other wastes and contaminants. I am not a medical practitioner, but common sense tells me that if I have a wound, it could get infected, or it could infect others.


The idea of fish spa sounds unique and novel. But with my experience as an aquarium keeper, it does not appeal to me. Aquarium water and pond water can be the dirtiest if filtration is not good. And the same thing goes for pool water as well.

But there should be no worries. As a fad, it has a limited shelf life.

Bye fish!



No comments:

Post a Comment