奇速英语

鱼疗，真利于健康还是另有隐患？

How badly do you want smoother, fresher-smelling feet? Would you place your feet into a cool basin of fish? Though not a new phenomenon, the “fish pedicure(鱼疗)” is a growing trend.

What is a fish pedicure? It’s kind of what it sounds like. The way it works is that a person places their feet in a water tub containing little Garra rufa fish, which are native to the Middle East. In turn, the fish go to work snacking on the person’s dead skin cells. Those favoring the treatment argue that the fish help lighten dark cuticles(表皮) and increase circulation. However, fish pedicures are banned in many places. Why?

In the first place, tubs for the fish pedicure can’t be sufficiently cleaned between customers when the fish are in them. Also, fish make waste, which collects in the pedicure tubs, too. There’s no effective way to disinfect(消毒) the tubs or the fish themselves. Experts say fish pedicure tubs provide a fertile breeding ground for bacteria, and even tiny cuts or sores can become infected when you put your feet in them. The Garra rufa fish themselves have also been found to carry strains of several infection-causing bacteria.

In addition, anyone with a credit card can buy the fish from importers, and the animals are mailed to the salon owners inside water-filled plastic bags. But some don’t survive the journey. In the fish pedicure salon, owners may use the same fish many times with different customers, due to the cost of fish. That increases the risk of spreading infection. What’s more, Garra rufa fish don’t want to eat people’s dead skin. They do it because they’re so severely starved that they’ll try to eat human skin to remain alive. Those can be considered animal cruelty.

So, before you dive in, a more traditional, fish-free pedicure is probably the better, safer option.