Flesh-eating fish give pedicures

A novel type of pedicure involving live fish which chomp away at dead skin is catching on at a Virginia beauty salon.



Owners of Yvonne Hair and Nails in Alexandria, a suburb of Washington DC, estimate 5,000 customers have so far tried the unorthodox treatment, in which customers immerse their feet in warm water filled with tiny, voracious carp.



The toothless fish, termed garra rufa but known as “doctor fish”, nibble away at dead skin while leaving healthy flesh untouched, providing what advocates say is a natural alternative to potentially unsanitary razors, clippers or pumice stones. After the fish have spent up to 30 minutes chewing away hard skin - there are about 100 to every tank - customers receive a standard pedicure.