Do Not Mess With Fish 21

and you thought fish were fun, well these ones are!

IT’S a fishy way of freshening up your feet – but letting carp nibble on your tootsies is the latest spa treatment to net beauty junkies.

Fish pedicures are creating something of a splash in the Washington D.C. area, where a northern Virginia spa has been offering them for the past four months. Salon owner John Ho said he wanted to come up with something unique while finding a replacement for pedicures that use razors to scrape off dead skin. He said: “I know people were a little intimidated at first, but I just said ‘let’s give it a shot’.” Customers of the treatment, which is popular in Turkey and some Asian countries quickly became hooked. After up to half-an-hour of having your feet nibbled by a tank of hungry fish, customers then get a standard pedicure, which is made easier by the fish’s work. Mr Ho, who charges $35 for a 15 minute session and $50 for half-an-hour, has more than 1,000 fish at his salon.

Around 100 fish are in each individual pedicure tank at any one time. Customer Patsy Fisher, 42, admitted she was nervous as she prepared for her first fish pedicure. But her fears dissolved into laughter after she put her feet in the tank and the fish swarmed to her toes. “It’s a little ticklish, actually,” she said. Mr Ho said the hot water in which the fish thrive doesn’t support plant or aquatic life, so they learned to feed on whatever food sources were available - including dead, flaking skin. They leave live skin alone because, without teeth, they can’t bite it off. Mr Ho is considering a full-body fish treatment to treat psoriasis and other ailments.

And in a change of heart.

No more using live fish in pedicures, state rules.

Nail salons won’t be allowed to use live, skin-eating fish when performing pedicures, the state Department of Licensing has ruled. A King County salon had offered the service, in which tiny fish eat dead skin cells, but no longer. State officials require all tools and implements used in a pedicure to be sanitized, disinfected or disposed of after using. “We do not believe you can properly sanitize a live fish,” said Liz Luce, director of the Washington state Department of Licensing. “We are greatly concerned about the safety of salon customers who choose to put their feet in a tank of live fish to eat away dead skin,” she said in a statement.

I wonder if these state "officials" are going to ban everybody from walking or swimming in the local creek or pond as “We do not believe you can properly sanitize a live fish,” seems a shame to stop going into the water, but I guess the "officials" know best.

These are the facts about the fish, there are two types that are used in the Middle East, Garra rufa and Cyprinion macrostomus.

Featured by Assoc.Prof.Dr. Levent Undar, the Faculty of Science, Dr. M. Ali Akpinar and Dr. Atilla Yanikoglu, Deparment of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Deparment of Biology of Cumhuriyet University, 58040 Sivas - Turkey. Doctor Fish PATIENTS with chronic, intractable disease tend to seek help from a wide range of alternative sources. But among the more bizzare is the treatment given by the socalled doctor fish of KANGAL.

These fish can be found in the pools of a hotspring near Kangal, a small town in Turkey. The area is also known for the Kangal dog, a sheepdog, and a sheep with an extra rib. The spring is 13 km from Kangal in a tiny settlement, consisting of a hotel, some pensions, a camping area, a small restaurant, a market and four bathing pools, three of which are open-air.

The pools have concrete walls and floors paved with pebbles and drain into a stream which runs between the buildings.

The water, with a pH of about 7.2, is isothermal and maintains a temperature of about 35 ° C throughout the year. It has features which make it drinkable. The presence of selenium (1.3ppm) has been emphasised for its biological and therapeutic aspects.The springs were first noticed by people from neighbouring villages in the early 1800s.The pools were built in 1900, and were opened to the public in 1963. The water has been reported as being beneficial in rheumatic disease, neurologic disorders (neuralgia, neuritis, paralysis), orthopaedic and traumatological sequelae (fractures, joint trauma, and muscle disease), gynaecological problems (by lavage), skin diseases, urolithiasis (by drinking), and psychosomatic disorders (a report from the Clinic and Institute of Physical Therapy and Hydrology, Faculty of Medicine Ankara University, March 2, 1967).But psoriasis is the disease which has made the spring so popular as a therapeutic aid . * The fish strike and lick the psoriatic plaque - or plaques of other skin diseases - which have been softened by the water.

* This clears away the scales, causes minor bleeding, and exposes the lesion to water and sunlight.

* This may also cause drainage of pus in patients with abscesses.

* The high level of selenium in the water, an element the topical application of which is beneficial in some diseases, is reported to be the most important factor for wound healing .

* Selenium is a co - factor for glutathion peroxidase, an enzyme protecting cells against the effects of free radicals.

* This may also explain the beneficial effects of water taken by drinking or by lavage in gastrointestinal and gynaecological disorders.

* Observers, other than those from Turkey, reported that bathers were enthusiastic about the doctor fish and none expressed disappointment .

* Wide interest in the doctor fish encourages people with neurological and rheumatic diseases to visit the hotspring to immerse themselves in its pools.