Carp Fish Pedicure: Doctor Fish Eat Your Dead Feet Skin

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Tiny carp enjoy a feet skin buffet every time someone wants the fish pedicure in a northern Virginia spa. What? Yes. The latest trend in hilarious spa luxury to hit the U.S. is the fish pedicure, which uses "doctor" fish to remove dead skin from feet. The carp, first used in Turkey, are also popular in Asia where customers relax in shallow communal pools while the fish chomp on their flaking feet skin, or their whole body. U.S. regulations forbid the communal pools and require each customer to have their own water source. I think that's wise. I'd rather not float in pool of strangers' dead skin flakes, no offense.

The doctor fish don't have teeth, so apparently they can't bite your healthy skin off, only the dead flaky stuff. Patrons say the pedicure feels tingly or almost ticklish. I have a serious problem with ticklish feet and rarely get pedicures because of it. I am sure I would be completely hysterical if 100 tiny fish were eating my feet skin in the spa. They would throw me out and I'd lose my $35 for 15 minutes of fish biting.

Still not convinced of this process? Wondering if dead foot skin really tastes good enough for fish to enjoy eating it? Well, it seems it's primarily a result of environmental adaptation. Plants don't survive in the warm waters the fish live in at the spa, so they take whatever food they can get. Thus, dunk your callousy tootsies in and they come rushing over for a bite.

You can probably guess my reaction: Oh hells no. Maybe the fish mouths are better alternatives to sharp skin files, but I think I might throw up if I glanced down at all these fish feeding on my feet. But then, that's just me. I've never tasted my dead skin. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing.