Fish feet

You read that right.

Fish pedicures are creating something of a splash in the D.C. area, where a northern Virginia spa has been offering them for the past four months. John Ho, who runs the Yvonne Hair and Nails salon with his wife, Yvonne Le, said 5,000 people have taken the plunge so far.

"This is a good treatment for everyone who likes to have nice feet," Ho said.

He said he wanted to come up with something unique while finding a replacement for pedicures that use razors to scrape off dead skin. The razors have fallen out of favor with state regulators because of concerns about whether they're sanitary.

Ho was skeptical at first about the fish, which are called garra rufa but typically known as doctor fish. They were first used in Turkey and have become popular in some Asian countries.

Customers say the toothless fish cause a tingling sensation, but it doesn't hurt. And since doctor fish don't have teeth, they can't bite healthy skin. After the fish do their work, customers get a standard pedicure, made easier because the calluses are already gone. Roberts, shown, called the fish treatment "the best pedicure I ever had."