What happens during your "bathing session" with the Garra Rufa fish therapy? The daily “bath with the fishes” is the main part of the combination therapy. Every patient must take a shower without soap or shower gel before getting into the "bath with the fish," in the hottest water, toleratible by the patient. Every patient should expect to stay in the bathtub for roughly 1,5 to 2 hours a day. For the therapy, we use a specialiased tub with a volume of roughly 800 liters of 32-34°C warm water. The number of Fish we use to treat each individual patient is proportional to the severity of the Skin Disorder of that individual patient.

Initially, the patient may experience some "Shock and anxiety" when they see the brown, grey and beige of the Garra Rufa surround the patient and begin to nibble at and clear up the areas of Skin which are affected. The familiarization with the fish takes 1 session. The fish strike and lick the plaques of the skin disorders, which have been softened by the warm water. This clears away the plaque scales, causing minor bleeding, and exposing the lesion to the water. This may also cause drainage of pus in patients with abscesses. The Garra Rufa prefer to attack diseased rather then healthy skin simply because it is easier to nibble at it.

The fish nibbles at the diseased skin area, the upper skin layer is completely removed. At the same time the fish leave traces of their saliva on your skin, which results in Skin Renewal and Re-growth and normalisation of the affected area of skin. This process is absolutely free of pain. You simply feel a pleasant tickling on the skin to which you will get used to, very fast. These fish have no teeth, clear up the scared Skin through the actions of their mouth without causing any pain to the patients. Patients feel their skin becoming smooth. It is necessary to bath with the fish for 1,5 hours at a time each day, for 3 weeks to achieve the best result. For hygienic reasons, we ensure that all patients use their “own” bathtub throughout the therapy, and are treated with their “own” fish. Moreover, we use a specially manufactured filtering system to make sure that the water is always “clean” and free of bacteria. After spending 1,5 hours in the bath with the fish the patient is given light therapy (for approximately 1-6 minutes to dry off the skin), under the ultraviolet rays, thus completing the second part of the therapy.

>To view the Garra fish check out our gallery section


FISH PEELING

The "litte dermatologist” treatment can also be administered as an alternative and new skin care for a more beautiful and smooth skin.