Why Are Sonakshi Sinha's Feet In A Pool Of Fish?

If you've scrolled through the day's latest Bollywood Instagram posts, there's one that might have caught your attention. If you don't know what we're talking about, you're in the right place. What we're referring to is Sonakshi Sinha's latest post, in which she's sitting with her feet immersed...in a tank that's surrounded by tiny fish swimming at her feet. Wait, what?

On her current Thailand trip, our girl Sona decided to make a quick stop over at the famous Pattaya Floating Market, which is renowned for selling all kinds of handicrafts from different parts of Thailand. Presumably after a spot of shopping, Sonakshi decided to take a break and rest her dogs in none other than a tank of living, swimming fish. No, you didn't read that wrong.

 

A post shared by Sonakshi Sinha (@aslisona) on Jan 15, 2018 at 2:22am PST

Looks like Sonakshi tried her hand, errr, feet at the popular doctor fish pedicure, which is exactly what it sounds like. You immerse your feet in a tank of water filled with tiny fish for 15 to 20 minutes and let the little buggers do what they're meant to do. Once you remove your feet, they'll look brighter and feel cleaner.

Fish pedicures are commonly available across South East Asia - so how does it work? The fish used for it are known as garra rufa or doctor fish, a variety of toothless carp from the Middle East. When legs are dunked in the water, they feast on the dead skin at the heels, toes and ankles. Just as a regular pedicure would exfoliate away dead skin with a scrub, the doctor fish pedicure does that too, in a rather gimmicky way. While the treatment isn't painful by any means, it can be ticklish so if you're squeamish, you might want to steady yourself for this one.

Globally, the doctor fish pedicure doesn't quite have the best reputation. As repurchasing doctor fish frequently can be quite expensive, many spas reuse their batch of fish for far too many customers. If tanks and water aren't sanitized and fish aren't changed often, it can turn into an incubator for infection. Looks like Sonakshi Sinha got in a good break in Thailand, especially for those tired feet of hers.