Hard-working as a… fish. What is fish pedicure?

You can prepare yourself at home SPA for your feet. And then you can also go to the beauty parlour, dip your feet in the warm water and allow small fish to do their magic. The fish pedicure is a treatment that gains more and more popularity and which has as many followers as people who are against it. What is it? Is it safe? Enjoy my post!

Foot care is extremely important and you should never forget about it. Every day our feet suffer in the thick socks, heavy boots, sweaty and weak. They need a small bit of your attention because allow you to keep both feet on the ground. 🙂 I encourage you to take more care of your feet, especially when the summer season is approaching and it is going to be time to show them off in the sandals. Search for the help of nature.

The methods to provide the feet with softness and smoother are many. I use some of them myself on regular basis, like for example, at home scrub and bath, regular cream application. However, recently I have discovered something that truly delighted me… FISH PEDICURE! <3

What is fish pedicure?

It is a type of pedicure that involves school of fish to remove the dead skin of our feet which are dipped in the aquarium. No, I do not mean piranha because then you’d probably be left with no feet at all. 🙂

The fish is known as Garra rufa or doctor fish and come from Syrian and Israeli rivers. In the Middle East, this treatment is very common hence fish pedicure came even to us. Is there anything we should know about these fish? These have up to 14 cm length and teeth-less jaws, which they use to suck to our skin. In Jordan and Turkey are also called the lucky fish. The healing use of the fish was first described by the biologist Heckel in the first half of XIX century.

There is a certain story that circles around this subject — half joking half serious. Apparently, once upon a time during a Spring trip to the lake, two brothers have noticed that when they dip their feet in the water, small fish gather around. After each trip, their skin was smooth. They have come to the conclusion that it must have been the effect of small fish nibble the feet and that is how fish pedicure came to life. Although, I would treat this story with a grain of salt. 🙂

Personally, I love Asian treatments so when I heard that my favourite beauty salon introduced fish pedicure, I booked my visit right away! :):)

How does the fish pedicure look like?

I’d like to begin by saying that fish pedicure is a treatment performed at the beauty salon. It is advised against putting your feet in the first better aquarium as it may end up badly. Appropriate conditions are required. I will tell you more about it based on my personal experience.

Fish pedicure step by step:

1. Beautician needs to gather information from you and qualify you for the treatment.
2. Before the treatment, wash your feet thoroughly and disinfect them.
3. Then soak feet in the aquarium with warm water where fish swim.
4. Doctor fish nibble the dead skin cells which feel like a gentle tickling.
5. After determine by beautician time, take the feet out of the water and dry them, the end!

Before you decide to try fish pedicure! Check few matters! Is water in the aquarium clean and has all the sanitary-epidemiological station approvals? Are fish from the confirmed breeding? Was water exchanged and disinfected after every client? Does aquarium have a filter? Checking all these things guarantees that the treatment will be executed hygienically and according to all the rules, so is going to be safe.

How does it work? Fish pedicure effects!

The treatment is simple and I must admit relaxing. It is worth to invest in fish pedicure just to relax a bit. The gentle skim of the skin by the swimming by fish is super cool feeling — as far as you have no tickles because otherwise, you may not be able to sit still and not laugh! :):)

The most important effects of the fish pedicure that you can expect:

• removal of all the dead skin cells;
• smoother and softening of the skin thanks to enzymes from fish;
• improves blood circulation in the skin (and in general in the skin);
• incredible relaxation which we often need.

Unfortunately, not all of us will be blessed with a fish pedicure. 🙁 I was lucky enough that I had no contradictions as to trying the treatment and I can soak my feet in the company of hundreds of fish.

Contradictions as to fish pedicure:

You should not go to fish pedicure if you have an untreated fungal infection, skin inflammations, scrape, open wounds or warts. It is also advised against trying the treatment when you have a pacemaker, low immunity, infectious diseases of the blood or you have waxed legs less than 24 hours before the treatment. Just that and even that.