They’re a special breed of fish, mainly from Turkey, that are used in the treatment of psoriasis. This skin feed on the skin of the patients and only consume the affected and dead areas of the skin, leaving the healthy skin to grow. They’re not meant to be a treatment option, but more of a temporary cure for the symptoms.

Now they have found their way to health spa resorts in several countries, for bathers to ‘clean’ themselves.

The Doctor Fish, also known as Garra Rufa is a tiny toothless Turkish spa fish, of the Garra species, naturally nibbling away those pesky dead skin that makes your skin dull and dead, leaving you with silky smooth hands and feet that look great from any direction. Many people also believe that the Doctor Fish therapy (Fish Spa) can cure problems like psoriasis, a disease that causes red, scaly patches to appear on the skin. Hot spring spas in Turkey with such fish have been running for more than 100 years and some people with skin problems swear by the treatment.

It’s not in Australia yet, but there are spa resorts in Japan, Croatia, China, Netherlands, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States.

Maybe in the not too distant future, going to the spa in Australia might mean a completely different thing.