Doctor Fish

3/26/11

Doctor Fish. So I've seen this a time or two (NEVER in the U.S.) and have been slightly curious and at the same time horrified by the whole thing. Today I decided to give it a try on a whim. Wow. The whole process was rather intense! You slowly put your feet into the water and the fish instantly swarm and start to suction/nibble away at your dead skin (perhaps not so dead skin). I didn't expect the entire swarm of fish to gravitate to my feet when they entered the water so that was really overwhelming and intense for most of the time that I sat there. I found it better not to look at the fish or my feet for that matter. I tried to go to my happy place, that didn't work. So, I looked out the window at the beach and the waves crashing and still couldn't relax. Something about little carp descendants gnawing on my feet and legs just didn't seem right!

I kept waiting for the "pool attendant" to tell me that my time was up (it was 800 Yen for 10 minutes) but that didn't seem to happen and I swear my feet were in there for at least 20 minutes. After a while it became too much to handle and the fish were getting to another layer of skin, at least that's what it felt like, so I hopped out...without any fish dangling from my feet. I was happy to see that there wasn't any exposed bone.

I read the brochure provided by the Doctor Fish staff and it indicated that this breed of fish only live in hot springs and that Cleopatra was very fond of them and their ability to remove dead skin from her legs/feet. Cleopatra was a better woman than I. Once is definitely enough! Been there, done that, don't need seconds!

Just looking at this picture creeps me out. Ick!