Fish pedicure: risks and benefits

For a few years now, a new pedicure technique has been popular in which the protagonists are freshwater fish from Asian regions that clean the dead skin on the feet, removing them.

Just soak the feet in a tub full of small fish that will “attack” the cuticles by sucking them off like a suction cup.

Most importantly, when you want to show off your feet while wearing open shoes or when you are at the beach, many people go to the many beauty salons where this type of pedicure can be performed.

Pedicure, what risks?

Although the result is respectable and the feet look soft and smooth, there are also risks inherent in this type of pedicure. There is no specific health regulation regarding this practice, which among other things is also not recommended for those who are diabetic, immunocompromised and those with foot injuries.

This is because infections could occur since the water in the tank cannot be subjected to disinfestation that would kill the fish. In addition, even if the water in the tank is changed often by the managers, one customer cannot be expected to have a mycosis that could be transmitted to all other subsequent customers.

So, certainly one risk is that by dipping your feet into the tub full of fish, the result is surprising but also that you get infections, even quite serious ones such as hepatitis (precisely because it is not a single-use tub but is used by multiple clients).

Although this type of pedicure is very scenic and nice (those who have tried it state that it is very pleasant to have your feet tickled by the little fish) and above all effective, the downside is that, since you cannot perform disinfection procedures on the tub, you are very exposed to the possibility of catching very annoying and, at times, health-threatening fungal and bacterial infections.