Fish Spa – The Harmful Effects of this Pedicure

The ugly side of the ʻFish Spaʼ.

- Maneka Sanjay Gandhi

A few months ago, a young woman went to her doctor in New York. Her toenails had gradually blackened over six months and fallen off. No one in her family had abnormal toenails and she had no diseases, no injuries, nor a family history of nail disorders. During the tests it was discovered that she had a fish pedicure six months ago. The fish had caused injury to the nail matrix, which is the nail growth centre. This led to a nasty case of onychomadesis, in which the nail plates that make up the toenail halt production and separate, causing her nails to fall off. The condition can cause deep grooves to run horizontally across the nails, or large gaps where there is no nail. The case has been reported in JAMA Dermatology.

This is not the only problem fish pedicures have caused.

Fish pedicures have transmitted Staphylococcus aureus and mycobacteriosis infections.

Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium which is a common cause of infections, that range from minor skin infections, such as pimples, boils, cellutitis, folliculitis, carbuncles, and abscesses, to lifethreatening diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, osteomvelitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome, bacteremia, and sepsis. An estimated 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the human population are long-term carriers of S. aureus. It can cause skin and softtissue infections, particularly when the skin has been breached. It can spread through contact with pus from an infected wound, skin-to-skin contact with an infected person, and contact with objects used by an infected person.