Those fish pedicures a few years ago

[eyeofthehurricane]

I never fancied having one, but remember when they were popular and saw one being done.

Are they still a thing people have done?

They are less popular now, thank God. Disgusting, cruel things. They do still exist though and still pose a public health risk.

Health spa pedicures: preventing infections - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

There used to be a lot of them in the city centre but they've all closed down.

It sounded a pretty unhygeinic life for the fish!

I hope not.
Seemingly the fish were half starved, that’s why eating the skin of peoples feet was a draw to them.

https://viva.org.uk/lifestyle/living-vegan/fish-pedicures/#:~:text=Rather%20than%20improving%20the%20health,bacteria%20which%20can%20cause%20pneumonia.

Didn't everyone get fungal infections from them?

Never hear about them now. Poor discarded hungry fish. Next time I de-hobbit my feet I might look into how to donate to them. There are probably rescue centres, like for Romanian orphan dogs.

I think Alan Bennett should write a 00s set Talking Heads monologue starring Alison Steadman sitting in the middle of a shopping centre having a fish pedicure and contemplating her life.

I had one a couple of times - absolutely briliiant! No-one got fungal infections from them; that was the theoretical risk that got the whole idea shut down. Shame really.

You are joking aren't you? Have you seen what gets pumped into our rivers and seas??!!

Very cruel, I’m glad it’s stopped. The fish were being starved to force them to eat skin.

Surely we should be centring the victims' lived experience rather than the oppressor.

Although I guess there's a risk it would end up being "ooh, a foot ... ooh, a foot" ... five years pass "ooh, no feet", the end.

Fungal infections are the least of the concerns with these pedicures; bacterial and parasitic infections plus blood borne virus transmission are the actual risks (from the fish themselves, from person to person with the fish as vector, and also from the water/environment due to poor husbandry).

Not to mention the animal welfare issues.

They are tropical fish imported from Asia - Red Gaffas. Not some poor polluted beast hoisted out of the Thames. And they are exposed to feet with all sorts of nasties on them, the poor wee sods.

I was in America last year and they had them in a couple of the malls. I don't think they are much of a thing here or in Europe now. I never fancied it made me feel queasy.

@KatBurglar true, and even if they were a native species, what does the state of our rivers have to do with it? Do two wrongs make a right? Does that mean that just because most of the UK's rivers are suffering with farm run off and irresponsible water companies, that its ok to treat captive fish however the fuck we want?

edited to make it doubly clear that I'm agreeing with you. @sorrynotathome 's post is totally irrelevant whataboutery.

I think there was some worry about hepatitis and HIV transmission and although it was found to be low risk I think they fell out of favour.

The whole idea is a bit gross but many years ago when I lived in ME it was a thing to go to the wadis and let the fish nibble away. Don't think it should have become
Commercialised though.

There's one in the tourist shopping area of Athens. In August it appeared to be doing a roaring trade.

oh yuck! I saw them in Spain pre pandemic but by the time I went back they seemed to have vanished.

I was in Greece last month and there were heaps.

Not for me thanks though sure any risks were negligible.

They were massive where I live (think lip filler, acrylic nail, fake tan central!). I had one a couple of times when I was much younger and I feel really bad about it now. I never had any problems from it but it was clearly really cruel to the fish- somehow that didn’t occur to me at the time.

I have never had one, but I have had "natural" ones, from little sea fish in the Med. I can't say its a nice experience, they have very sharp little teeth, so I cannot for the life of me, understand why you would pay for that.

I saw someone having one in a raised seat right next to a promenade in Lanzarote last week. My eyes focused on it, I realised what I was seeing, and I found that it made me very squeamish 🤢

You're right. I feel ashamed

Alan needs to amplify the voices of the fungal feet fish.

Ponderings of a Pedicure Poisson.

There were loads of fish pedicure places in Tenerife when I was there last month

Not long back from Turkey and they're still offered there. I gave the bloke in our hotel, who tried to get us to have one, a 10 minute lecture on why it's cruel and not acceptable. I think he thought I was nuts

I had one years ago in Tenerife. Took ages to psyche myself up to put my feet in, then nearly vommed at the feeling. Don’t know what I was thinking tbh, seemed like a good holiday sort of thing.