You know what a pedicure looks like - but you probably haven't seen one like this.
It involves tiny fish, eating the dead skin off your feet. As Derek McGinty reports, a salon in Virginia has brought the practice back from China, and it's very popular.
It's like having your feet in champagne. BELIEVE IT OR NOT THESE LITTLE FRIENDLY FLESH EATERS ARE GIVING THESE FEET A PEDICURE....ONE BITE AT A TIME...
This isn't like sticking your foot in with jaws, is it? No...you stick four toes in there..you come out with four toes...
BUT YOU COME OUT WITHOUT MUCH OF THE CALLOUS AND DEAD FLESH YOU HATE, BUT WHICH THE FISH APPARENTLY LOVE.....
The fish are actually nibbling on your feet. does it hurt? no its doesn't hurt in any way...it tickle like hell though.
JOHN HO TRAVELED ALL THE WAY TO CHINA TO LEARN THE ART OF USING THESE TINY GARRA RUFA, OR DOCTOR FISH, TO EAT THE DEAD SKIN OFF YOUR FEET. SMOOTHER AND MORE SANITARY THAN A RAZOR, THESE PARTICULAR FISH TAKE THEIR MEALS AT YVONNE HAIR SALON, RUN BY HO AND HIS WIFE IN ALEXANDRIA.
They love it. I have people coming back many many times. HO INSISTS THE DOCTOR FISH HAVE HAD THEIR FILL THOUSANDS OF LOCAL FEET...AND WE FOUND MORE THAN CUSTOMER COMING BACK TO OFFER SECOND AND THIRD HELPINGS...
It's starting to feel like a massage more than a pedicure. It is my first time. It feels great. OK, I KNOW YOU GUYS WEREN'T GONNA BE SATISFIED UNLESS I TOOK THE PLUNGE, SO, HERE WE GO.
That just feels totally totally freakish. I mean..a million little things are biting your feet. But it doesn't hurt. It just feels really really strange.
BUT AS THE FISH GO TO TOWN ON MY BATTERED TOOTSIES, IT DOES RAISE AN INTERESTING QUESTION. Do the fish ever get full? They never get full.
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