Ready for the latest in spa pampering Prepare to dunk your feet in a tank of water and let tiny carp nibble away.
準備寵愛自己一下，享受最新的溫泉浴？把腳浸泡在一個水槽裡，讓小魚一點一點啃掉角質層。
Fish pedicures are creating something of a splash in the Washington D.C. area, where a northern Virginia spa has been offering them for the past four months. John Ho, who runs the Yvonne Hair and Nails salon, said 5,000 people have taken the plunge so far. "This is a good treatment for everyone who likes to have nice feet,'' Ho said. He said he wanted to come up with something unique while finding a replacement for pedicures that use razors to scrape off dead skin. The razors have fallen out of favor with state regulators be-cause of concerns about whether they're sanitary.
靠魚進行足部美容已經在華府地區引起一陣騷動。北維吉尼亞礦泉浴場過去四個月來一直在提供這項別出心裁的服務。伊鳳美容院何姓老闆約翰說，到目前為止已經有5000人試過這種魚足浴。「這對所有想有一雙美腿的人是很爽的享受，」何老闆說。他表示，他原本想找個特殊的方式，取代用剃刀刮掉死皮的修剪腳趾甲服務。剃刀因州法衛生相關規定漸被淘汰。
The fish are called garra rufa but typically known as doctor fish. They were first used in Turkey and have be-come popular in some Asian countries. But Ho doubted they would thrive in the warm water needed for a com-fortable footbath. And he didn't know if customers would like the idea. "I know people were a little intimidated at first,'' Ho said. "But I just said, 'Let's give it a shot.'" Cus-tomers were quickly hooked.
這種魚叫做「淡紅墨頭魚」，一般通稱醫生魚，土耳其最早引進，亞洲某些國家跟著流行。由於足浴需要溫水才舒服，何老闆起先懷疑，這些醫生魚是否可以在溫水中生存，他也不確定客人能不能接受。何說：「我知道客人一開始會有點怕怕的，但我只告訴她們，『何不大膽試試。』」客人很快就著迷了。
Tracy Roberts（as shown in photo）, 33, heard about it on a local radio show. She said it was "the best pedi-cure I ever had'' and has spread the word to friends and co-workers. "I'd been an athlete all my life, so I've al-ways had calluses on my feet. This was the first time somebody got rid of my calluses completely,'' she said.
33歲的崔西‧羅伯茲（如圖所見），是從當地廣播節目中聽說魚醫生的故事。她說，這是「我所曾做過最美妙的足部美容」，同時也介紹給朋友和同事。「我一直是個運動員，腳上一直長繭，這是第一次我腳上的硬皮和繭統統都清除了，」她說。
The fish don't do the job alone. After 15 to 30 minutes in the tank, customers get a standard pedicure, made eas-ier by the soft skin the doctor fish leave behind. Ho be-lieves his is the only salon in the country to offer the treatment, which costs $35 for 15 minutes and $50 for 30 minutes. The spa has more than 1,000 fish, with about 100 in each individual pedicure tank at any given time. In addition to offering pedicures, Ho hopes to establish a network of Doctor Fish Massage franchises and is evalu-ating a full-body fish treatment that, among other things, could treat psoriasis and other skin ailments.
但足部美容並不是只靠魚就大功告成了。腳浸泡在水槽15到30分鐘後，客人還是要接受正規足部修剪美容，但因魚醫生已經留下細嫩的皮膚，工作容易多了。礦泉浴中至少有1000條魚，每個水槽任何時候都有大約100條。除了提供美足修趾服務，何老闆還希望建立魚醫生按摩網，同時評估全身魚治療的可行性，其中一項是治牛皮癬及其他皮膚病。