Though it’s something that’s being going strong in Asia for some time, the fish pedicure has seen an almost meteoric rise in the UK high street in the last year: but the treatment, that sees Garra Rufa fish remove dead skin from patient’s feet has been the target of much derision in this time.
For those who love the treatment, the whole spa ritual and experience of being gently nibbled at is a pleasurable, relaxing and exotic practice. Those who opposed it initially seemed to focus primarily on how daft you look doing it, how odd it feels and the idea that it probably isn’t all that effective.
By becoming more prominent, the foot spas have made themselves a target for bigger claims from bigger voices. The UK’s national press has made much of the possibility of blood bourne diseases being passed along by the fish – Hepatitis C and HIV being the headline makers. Not that the transmission has ever actually happened, but that it could happen in a worst case scenario.
Whilst the concerns are on some level legitimate, you can’t help but feel that there’s some extra animosity there for a practice that people simply don’t full understand or ‘get’. Still, unregulated high-street businesses are always going to be a grey area for health standards.
The UK’s Health Protection Agency has rode into the media skirmish on the issue to add a little sanity to proceedings: they agree that the water could contain micro-organisms harmful to health and the path of infection is multiple. But the actual risk of infection? Very low to a healthy person.
Those who are unfortunate enough to have a weakened immune system or some other underlying condition that makes infection especially dangerous should generally stay away from the treatment though. Also, to avoid opening up cuts and the like, it’s best if you don’t shave or remove hair on your legs during the day before a foot spa visit.
Are we not risking being a nanny state by calling day spas and high-street fish pedicurists to stop this practice? The practice is actually banned in most of North America because the tools typically used in cosmetology should be sanitised or disposed of – practices that aren’t possible with living fish.
If you’re looking for a more traditional day spa experience, why not try Sanctuary Spa London a chain of venues in Covent garden (and around the UK) that accepts Sanctuary Spa Gift Vouchers, the perfect Christmas gift for the terminally stressed
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