Something fishy as carp make a salon splash

FISH pedicures are making a splash as the latest must-do beauty treatment.

John Ho, who runs a salon in Virginia, said 5,000 people have taken the plunge so far.

“This is a good treatment for everyone who likes to have nice feet,” he said.

He said he wanted to come up with something unique while finding a replacement for pedicures that use razors to scrape off dead skin. The razors have fallen out of favour with state regulators because of sanitary concerns.

Ho was sceptical at first about the fish, which are called garra rufa but typically known as doctor fish.

They were first used in Turkey and have become popular in some Asian countries.

But he doubted they would thrive in the warm water needed for a comfortable foot bath. And he did not know if customers would like the idea.

Customers were quickly hooked.

Tracy Roberts, 33, heard about it on a local radio show. She said it was “the best pedicure I ever had” and has spread the word to friends and co-workers.

“I’d been an athlete all my life, so I’ve always had calluses on my feet. This was the first time somebody got rid of my calluses completely,” she said.

First-time customer Karin Reese, 32, described the tingling sensation created by the toothless fish: “It kind of feels like your foot’s asleep,” she said.

The fish do not do the job alone. After 15 to 30 minutes in the tank, customers get a standard pedicure, made easier by the soft skin the doctor fish leave behind.

The treatment, costing $35 (€22) for 15 minutes, uses about 100 fish in each individual pedicure tank.