Sunday, July 27, 2008

Doctor Fish

When one goes to the Singapore Flyer, one expects to take the Flyer. But that was not the case with me and a friend last Friday. We went for a new spa treatment by Dr Fish - yes, you heard it right - fishes are also medically educated now :)

It was truly a worthwhile experience - and out of this world. The first few minutes, was like a torture of a lifetime, especially if you are ticklish - and yet the irony is that these fishes are toothless! But thereafter as you get accustomed to it, it begins to feel as if they are massaging your feet. Don't let the picture on the right scare you though ... in actual fact, there are more fishes swarming at your feet than shown here ... (evil laugh).

Doctor fish are a species called garra rufa and originate in pools near two small Turkish towns, Kangal and Sivas. They have long been known for their ability to treat the symptoms of skin conditions such as psoriasis.

In Kangal, the water's high temperature makes it difficult for any nutrients to survive; the doctor fish are therefore ravenous. Handily, they also have a penchant for dead, diseased or scabby skin. With their gummy mouths they strike and lick the psoriatic plaques, eating away the scaly skin that has been softened by the warm spa pool.

The idea is that you immerse your feet, hands or, if you are brave enough, your entire body in a warm pool that swarms with hundreds of hungry minnow-sized feeders. The fish zoom in on your most crusty, flaky or scabby skin and chomp away at it to reveal the fresh layer beneath. You will emerge refreshed, healthy, buffed and glowing.

My feet was like a baby after the half-hour treatment ... and I will be coming back for more :)

4 comments:

Al-Majnun said...

what a coincidence!!
i just went as well... on sunday afternoon with some friends!

were there any caucasians ard you that day?

well, it just appeared to me that our asian feet seem to attract more of them fishies... the caucasians were like... "hey where'd all the fish go?" and then they'd look at me, and have that look on their face..."oh THERE they are... at HIS LEGS"...

must be all the walking and poor footcare. sigh.

Anonymous said...

Yikes!!! I'm too chicken for the fishies!

Anonymous said...

Nizar _ haha! this goes to proof that we have a harder life. tsk tsk :)

Hoopoe, I can't believe you actually tried it out! Though I love going for massages, I'm definitely not going anywhere near these fishes. Would end up screaming non stop.

TheHoopoe said...

yashila,

trust me ... even the most macho men there were screaming and did all sorts of things ( me, excluded) ... but only during the initial phase. everybody was ok after 10 minutes. a lady was even reading her novel while being eaten by the fishes :)

MUST try ...