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October 10, 2008
BehindTheMedspeak: Texas bans fish pedicures
That's right.
The hottest thing to hit feet since athlete's foot has just been declared verboten by the Texas Department of Regulation and Licensing.
Long story short: The agency was concerned about salons using the same fish to nibble at the feet of multiple customers, leaving them (the customers — I don't think they're very worried about the health of the little fish, though I could be mistaken on that) vulnerable to person-to-person skin bit transmission via the mouths of the tiny swimmers.
Eeeww.
Here's yesterday's Associated Press story with the details.
- Texas Ends Fish Pedicures
One of the latest trends in foot massage has gone belly-up in Texas.
The state banned fish pedicures due to health and safety concerns Wednesday, meaning salon customers can no longer enjoy the pleasure of hundreds of small fish nibbling away the dead skin from their feet.
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation Spokeswoman Susan Stanford said the agency was concerned about salons using the same fish to clean the skin of multiple customers, leaving them open to possible infections. She also said the foot baths and holding tanks, because they're home to live fish, cannot always be properly cleaned and disinfected.
Stanford said that she knew of no cases of anyone getting sick from a fish pedicure.
"It is in the realm of possibilities," Stanford said in Wednesday's online edition of The Dallas Morning News. "We are erring on the side of safety."
The fad caught on after a Virginia salon began offering it.
The co-owner of Zen Luxury Nail & Beauty Bar, located in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, said she was disappointed to learn she could no longer offer the service.
Now she's not sure what to do with the 500 guppy-like fish she bought for $2,500.
"I guess we will either keep them as pets, or send them back," she said.
[via Milena, whose innocent question about where to get a fish pedicure in her 'hood led to an in-depth investigation by my crack research team once they got word about the new law]
October 10, 2008 at 10:01 AM | Permalink
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Comments
Wow she paid $2500 for those guppies?! She was robbed. Here in Miami they go for 10 for 2 bucks at a local pet shop. Ouch.
Posted by: Donna | Oct 12, 2008 7:37:13 PM
Wow I do not think that I could sit through that. I think that the yuck factor would quickly take over!
Posted by: Becca | Oct 12, 2008 6:23:56 PM
To: Susan Stanford
What's also in the "Realm of possibilities" is that the Sun will go Nova tomorrow or that Mexico will invade America...Oops, already happened. Your making laws or policies based on something that hasn't happened and is more than likely to NEVER happen is just another case of over-policing the "free" peoples of this country. These fish eat DEAD skin cells...you know, as in DEAD. Their mouths/teeth never puncture the skin they nor their activities threaten nor can cause possible harm to anyone. Like all the "government" in this country, you just want to continuously make your presence known and exhibit your power to make people do what you want regardless of the will of these self-same people. I wade in dirtier water fishing. And that river water has pollutants in it by the very dint of being river water. I haven't died, caught cold or even a pimple or blister from THAT water or the fishes living and swimming around in it. I've done this for years as well as a large population of people living along this very river. Are you going to tell me I can't fish here anymore because I "MIGHT" catch something? People die every day from motorcycle accidents and you still let car drivers drive even though they "MIGHT" hit and kill a motorcyclist. Where's your consistency in legislating human activities? Where's your justification? There is none! PURE AND SIMPLE POWER MONGERING! These fish are as dangerous as a kid with a cap gun...oh yeah, that's right, cops have and will kill kids with cap guns and say they thought it was a "WEAPON" and get off without repercussions. America is no longer the land of the free/ home of the brave. Our country is being given away to foreigners. Our people are being betrayed by it's politicians and our rights and freedoms ignored and bulldozed into invisibility by overweening, arrogant political "beings" just like you!
Posted by: J. Anthony Carter | Oct 12, 2008 6:06:20 PM
There are indiduals who work for 11 cents a day. There are people who starve and have no clean drinking water. How can you possibly consider yourself a HUMAN BEING when you have fish give you a massage? I cringe at the thought of how people like this live with themselves.
Posted by: kyle | Oct 12, 2008 3:18:24 AM
The reasons they chose to stop the procedure is pretty stupid, all things considered. The fish are less likely to be the vector of infection than their water - fish water and equipment carry a small but constant risk of mycobacterial (fish tuberculosis) infections when they come in contact with damaged skin, and the disease is both painful and very difficult to treat. The fact that the same fish and water is used for multiple customers don't really change that situation.
My problem with the procedure is that the fish will only display this skin biting behavior when they're starved to the very brink of death. They're fairly aggressive little guys, but they don't mess with anything bigger than themselves unless they're desperate.
Posted by: Hevach | Oct 11, 2008 9:59:42 PM
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