Garra Rufa fish, also now known as the doctor fish, nibble fish, kangal fish, doctorfishen and surgeonfish are a member of the Cypriniformes family of fish, and originates from the countries of Turkey and Iran.
They were first discovered in the 19th century in the Hot Springs of the Kangal valley and for over a century, these fish have been used for treating patients with chronic skin ailments such as psoriasis.
The fish are native to rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes in the Anatolian region of Turkey. There is more than one legend telling the story of how the healing properties of Garra Rufa therapy were discovered.
How true these stories are is unknown and maybe they are variations of the same set of events changed slightly over the years.
The most popular one is that two Turkish brothers from the town of Kangal stumbled across a hot spring one day and after their long walk stopped to dip their feet into the water. The moment their feet where submersed the tiny Garra Rufa Obtusa swarmed around and began to nibble at them.
The brothers enjoyed this massage so much that they returned on a regular basis and adopted fish spa therapy as a hobby. It is said that one of the brothers had a skin condition of the feet that he noticed was dramatically improving as a result of the Garra Rufa fish pedicure.
This treatment spread and soon people began to visit the hot springs and rivers to benefit from the healing powers of the Garra Rufa fish.
At modern-day spas, the water temperatures in the tank are kept high, which prevents the growth of nutrients that these fish feed on. As a result, they develop an insatiable appetite for eating up and clearing away the patient’s dry, diseased skin.
At Kangal, psoriasis patients stay at the spa for 21 days and visit the fish pools twice daily for four-hour treatment sessions. The spa’s mineral-rich water also helps to soothe their skin lesions.
During the 1960’s Garra Rufa center’s where created in close proximity to the natural habitat of the Garra-fish. People from around the world could visit these areas for this unique treatment that has been said to triumph over foot conditions when other treatments such as medicines and creams have failed.
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