This woman lost her toenails after a fish pedicure

Fish spa might not be the best idea. Photo: Pinterest

All of us like to follow and give in to the latest style tips offered across various platforms. One such fashionable trend is fish pedicure.

The pedicure involves putting your feet in water to have tiny fishes nibble away dead skin. They were all the rage for a while, and continue to be popular across various places cross the globe.

A 20-year old woman had her toenails fall off after indulging in a fish pedicure.

This recent incident has made us take a step back in horror.

A 20-year-old woman has lost her toenails after getting a fish pedicure. Photo: Pinterest

A new doctors report suggests that popping your feet in a tank of Garra rufa (the fish that nibbles away the dead skin of your feet) could end up making you lose your toenails.

The report, published in the journal JAMA Dermatology, describes a woman in her 20s who is believed to have contracted an infection called onychomadesis from a fish pedicure.

The woman visited her dermatologist after months of her toenails falling off. The other known causes of onychomadesis were ruled out, so the fish pedicure was deemed to have been the cause.

Not just that, fish pedicures also pose a risk of transmitting infections as the fish are often used on more than one customer. Tanks are often not correctly sanitised, and disease-causing bacteria can be found in the water and in the fish.

Meanwhile, toenails can take months to grow back, however, so the affected customer may need to wait a year before they are fully recovered.

Having fish eat away your skin may feel luxurious (and ticklish), but its not worth the risk.