During our short trip to Kuala Lumpur, we decided to give Kenko Reflexology and Fish Spa a visit. Located in Pavilion KL, …
… Kenko employs schools of finned employees, known as Doctor Fish, to provide customers a natural exfoliation experience of the feet that produces healthy, glowing skin results from even the most crusty or diseased epidermis.
Doctor Fish, or scientifically known as Garra Rufa, has been known to provide an alternative treatment at hot spring spas in Turkey for over four hundred years. In its natural habitat, this fish is said to feed on small organisms that live within the thermal springs. However, as few organisms thrive and food for this fish is scarce, they have thus evolved to be curious creatures that would nibble on anything foreign introduced into the water in the hope of food. While nibbling, the fish exude a unique enzyme called dithranol (anthralin) which prevents fast development of cells from the skin, thereby alleviating skin diseases.
After paying for the treatment at the counter, the very first step of the treatment was the removal our shoes and then placing them in the shoe racks.
Next, we had to wash our feet with enzymes (probably the “thing” that attracts the fishes) …
… at the washing area.
After washing our feet thoroughly from the knee down, we headed over to the Fish Spa Therapy Area …
… to enjoy the treatment, keeping in mind several simples rules to follow.
Here, the treatment areas are split into two, small fishes section, for the beginners …
… and the big fishes section, for the brave.
We first put our feet into the small fishes section, where they gently vacuumed our feet (or more like tickling us).
Then, we moved on to the big fishes section, but instead of vacuuming, it felt more like a bite (luckily the fishes are toothless).
As soon as our 30 minutes is over, we wiped our feet with the towels provided and headed back to the washing area to clean up our feet. I would say that, overall, it was an enjoyable experience and our feet did felt smoother than before.
However, it should be noted that although fish spas have been mushrooming all over Asia for the past few years, some had since been closed down, due to poor hygienic maintenance. There is also an on-going debate (1, 2) about the authenticity of the fishes used at Kenko, as the fishes look different from the actual garra rufa.
