17 November 2010

A trip to the doctor (fish)


It seems that the craze for fish pedicures has come to Havering. The spas use a type of fish known as the Doctor Fish (Garra rufa) which is native to the Middle East, particularly Iran, Iraq and Turkey. The fish "nibble" at dead skin leaving healthy skin alone. skin feels softer after and certainly looks better

The fish have been used in Turkey to treat psoriasis for some time. In recent years their use as a spa treatment has started to spread across the world, with the first spas opening in the UK earlier this year.

Here they are used to provide pedicures but one place in Hornchurch, solesensation, has a body immersion bath - it claims to be the first in the UK (I am not sure if this is true or not)

Being a psoriasis sufferer I have been intrigued by the doctor fish treatment ever since I first saw it on tv some years ago, Now that there is a place locally to try out the treatment I have booked a session on Monday (I was quite lucky as only one session is offered a day and the salon was featured on some Essex reality show on ITV which means that it is quite popular).

I am quite looking forward to giving it a try. I am under no illusions that it is a miracle cure - or any real cure at all - but if you are covered in patches of dead, flaky skin which sloughs off in bed and in my clothes as I am, any port in a storm! That and my hair looks like it has dandruff's big, ugly brother despite using methotrexate (an anti cancer drug which is effective in treating skin disieases but takes a while to kick in) and a strong steroid. Vitamin A cream.

So I am intrigued to see if it can relieve some of the worse symptoms and not make me bleed as exfoliation does. One thing is for sure, ther are going to be some Garra rufa who will think that Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and their birthdays have been rolled into one!

I will report back on Monday.

13 comments:

Sean Jeating said...

May the effect of Garra rufa's nibbling last at least 600 moons longer than the one of the moon-ant's nibbling.
All the best, Jams.

jams o donnell said...

Beautifully put Sean. Here's hoping!

susan said...

Could they, perhaps, be kept in your backyard pool after you remove the flowers?

CherryPie said...

I think it is well worth a try, it sounds much more positive than exfoliation.

jams o donnell said...

A bit cold for them Susan!

I hope so. It's worth a try Cherie

Claude said...

I can hardly wait to read your report. Don't let them nibble too much...Best Wishes!

jams o donnell said...

I will report back on monday. The little buggers are in for a feast!

nursemyra said...

I had my feet nibbled by fish in Singapore and loved it. I'm not sure they felt appreciably softer afterwards but it was a lovely experience

jams o donnell said...

I am definitely looking forward to having the treatment Nursie

SnoopyTheGoon said...

I understand that sunbathing around Dead Sea has a good effect on psoriasis.

As for the fishes - I guess it couldn't cause harm.

jams o donnell said...

That is something to try one day for real. In the meantime I must try the dead sea bath slats to see if that works

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

It's all the craze here, too but I don't think I'll be trying it!

jams o donnell said...

I must admit that I would not try it if it weren't fro the skin problems