Japanese Beauty Trend Alert

This is definitely not for the squeamish. According to TrendCentral, the newest spa treatment from Japan is known as Garra Ruffa or Dr. Fish. Basically you stick your feet into a tank full of hundreds of live fish, where they swarm and nibble and feast on your dead, scaly skin. Apparently this doesn’t hurt at all, it feels somewhat ticklish and once you become accustomed to hundreds of tiny mouths sucking on your feet hungrily, it’s  supposedly relaxing. Originally intended for psoriasis sufferers, the fish feed only on the dead skin and leaves behind fresh healthy skin.

I experienced this inadvertently while snorkeling in a cenote (fresh water pond) in Playa Del Carmen. I dunked my feet in the water to get accustomed to the temperature and dozens of little fish started to nibble on  my toes. It definitely doesn’t hurt and feel good in a twisted way. But I don’t know if I’d feel comfortable with HUNDREDS of fish having a feeding frenzy over my calluses. I’ve seen enough bad 70’s nature-gone-awry movies like Pirahna  to feel  entirely comfortable with this scenario.