2008 03 01 - Kenko Fish Spa, The Singapore Flyer

Kenko Fish Spa + 10 mins Head and Shoulder Message @ $28


Venue :
Singapore Flyer30 Raffles Avenue #02-08 S(039803)

This 'ponds' are filled with small little fishy called the Garra Rufa fish. Also known as "Doctor Fish" that hails from Turkey. What these little grey fishies do is they nibble your legs' dead body cells, believing that it is able to ease skin diseases, make your skin smoother and promote blood circulation.


About Garra Rufa




Doctor fish is the name given to two species of fish: Garra rufa and Cyprinion macrostomus. Other nicknames include nibble fish, kangal fish, and doctorfishen; in non-medical contexts, Garra rufa is called the reddish log sucker. They live and breed in the outdoor pools of some Turkish spas, where they feed on the skin of patients with psoriasis. The fish are like combfishes in that they only consume the affected and dead areas of the skin, leaving the healthy skin to grow, with the outdoor location of the treatment bringing beneficial effects. The spas are not meant as a treatment option, only as a temporary cure for symptoms, and patients usually revisit the spas every few months. Some patients have experienced complete cure of psoriasis after repeated treatments, but due to the unpredictable nature of the disease, which is strongly influenced by endogenous factors, this may simply be regression towards the mean.
Garra rufa occurs in the river basins of the Northern and Central Middle East, mainly in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. It is legally protected from commercial exploitation in Turkey due to concerns of overharvesting for export. Garra rufa can be kept in an aquarium at home; while not strictly a "beginner's fish", it is quite hardy. For treatment of skin diseases, aquarium specimens are not well suited as the skin-feeding behavior fully manifests only under conditions where the food supply is somewhat scarce and unpredictable.
In 2006, doctor fish spa resorts opened in Hakone, Japan, and in Umag, Croatia, where the fish are used to clean the bathers at the spa. There are also spas in resorts in China, such as Hainan and South Korea where there are a chain of cafes called Doctor Fish Cafe. Singapore has three locations offering the fish treatment, called Kampong Fish Therapy, Fish Reflexology and Fish Spa.
Dr Fish is now available commercially thanks to a breeder in China. Dr Fish spa as a franchise chain is now available globally developed specially by FISHO.