Later in 2008, an inspector from the state cosmetics committee came to see what was going on. The board quickly informed Vong that the fish pedicure violated Arizona law and the council`s own infection control and safety standards. Lipner said the patient had no other medical history that could link her to her abnormal toenails. While there is no definitive test for toenail loss induced by fish snacking, “I think we`re pretty sure it was the fish pedicure,” she said. Officials ordered Vong in January to stop the fish pedicure because it could violate the council`s statutes and rules and constitute a first-class offense. Experts say they don`t know how infections might spread through fish pedicure. This may be because the remaining microbes of those who were there for the last time, unlike the fish themselves. Health experts have expressed concern that fish baths recycle fish from person to person and may not properly clean tubs between applications. The tools hurt me more than the other pedicures I`ve had. My real problem, however, is that four days later and one more toe, it`s a tricky attitude for the Cosmetology Council when the Centers for Disease Control hasn`t taken an official position on fish pedicure. However, the CDC has raised some general concerns about fish spas, one of which is that fish need to be hungry to properly perform the pedicure.
As some critics have claimed, this can amount to cruelty to animals. Although Lipner believes the woman`s problems are due to the physical effects of the fish gnawing at her nail, she noted that there have also been reports of fish pedicure-related infections in the past. The judges concluded that this was open to further legal discussions. In the procedure, customers place their feet in a water tank filled with toothless Garra rufa fish, also known as doctor fish, which suck dead tissue from their feet to make them softer. Arizona`s closure of a “fish pedicure” spa was legal and did not violate the spa owner`s constitutional rights, an Arizona court ruled. Vong owns LaVie, a nail salon in Gilbert. In 2008, she campaigned for “Dr. Fish pedicure” in the store, six months earlier, the woman had plunged her feet into a tub of water filled with tiny fish called Garra rufa, which eat dead human skin when there is no plankton nearby. It wasn`t until later that she noticed that her nails were starting to fall out. The institute represented Vietnamese immigrant and spa owner Cindy Vong, whose business known as “fish spas” attracted dozens of customers to enjoy the sensation of small fish nibbling on their feet, and had called on the court to set limits on the authority of state and local governments to ban economic activity.
In the process, the institute asked the court to reconsider a 142-year-old precedent, The Slaughter-House Cases, which removed constitutional restrictions on economic regulations. After a young woman`s toenails began to separate from her toes, a doctor finally focused on the bottom: a fish pedicure, according to a report published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Dermatology. Another type of fish that “grows teeth and can draw blood” is sometimes mistaken for garra rufa and used in fish pedicures, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lipner was unable to identify the fish species affected in this case. Keller said his group has reviewed the regulations, which the board says Vong violates, and that they don`t apply to fish treatments. Despite the name, “fish pedicures do not meet the legal definition of a pedicure,” says the CDC. But in the UK, the fish spa fad didn`t last very long. “It was a bit of a madness that excited people, and then they moved on to the next thing,” said Verner-Jeffreys, who added that the concern about fish spas wasn`t just about human health. However, the court noted that the rule “is silent regarding fish activities,” said Sue Sansom, a spokeswoman for the board, that the law requires that care items used with salon guests be disinfected and that there is no way to disinfect a fish.
After a lengthy legal battle, Justice Margaret Downie, who wrote for a unanimous panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals, ruled in May 2014 that the board had acted within its powers. “We don`t see the [nail] until months after the event, so I think it`s hard for patients and doctors — especially if they`re not even aware that fish pedicure can do that — to make that connection,” she said. Fish spas are common throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and many U.S. states such as Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio. Guests swing their feet in tanks or natural pools that contain tiny toothless Garra rufa fish that gently kiss dead skin away from their feet. This treatment is also used by patients with psoriasis. Their recommendations focused on hygiene and infection control, “as would be necessary for other types of beauty salons.” But there were special contraindications to the fish pedicure, which had to be taken into account; Waxing or recent shaving, certain skin conditions and cuts on the feet or legs could increase the risk of infection, she said. The purpose of fish treatment, which some describe as a feeling of a slight electric current on the skin, is to smooth the feet and relax the client. “I think we can quite certainly say that a fish pedicure is probably not the right way to treat skin and nail conditions.” And that`s essentially what the court concluded here: that the ban on fish pedicure is rationally tied to a legitimate government purpose. Cindy Vong`s family escaped communist oppression to emigrate to the United States in 1983. In 1989, Cindy became a U.S.
citizen. She became a licensed nail prosthetist and opened a salon in Gilbert, Arizona. After experiencing a fish spa on a trip to Asia, she decided to open one in her living room, invest $40,000 in equipment and renovations, and create a health and safety protocol that included inspecting and cleaning the feet and using fresh water for each treatment.