(Tokyo, Japan) - The catch of the day in Japan: leg of man. Put some skin in the game - and say bon appetit!
In Japan, the latest hot spring hit is a bite-sized fish that feasts on dead human skin, even
in bathwater.
"It tickles," says one bather.
"It feels like they're cleaning my feet," says another bather.
Taking a bath with skin-eating fish is becoming a health spa treat, right up there with aromatherapy, massages and facials. Need to exfoliate? Go fish.
The fish aren't piranha. They're completely harmless. They don't have teeth, just vacuum-cleaner mouths.
In Turkey, these creatures are known as "Doctor Fish." They're used to clear up skin conditions like psoriasis, by licking off the diseased
skin and exposing the body to water and ultraviolet light.
Japanese spas are jumping right on that bandwagon.
"We had a customer who was treated with doctor fish for a month," a spokeswoman says. "And his dermatitis cleared right up."
It's a fish-eat-fish world out there. When the tasty humans are absent and the plankton runs low, the cold-blooded doctor fish keep right on chomping -- on each other.
Do they use the same fish over and over. And if so can it transmit bacteria from one person to another?
__________________ DSQ
Born: Epsilon Xi / Zeta Chi, SIUC
Raised: Minneapolis/St. Paul Alumnae
Reaffirmed: Glen Ellyn Area Alumnae All in the MIGHTY MIDWEST REGION!