There are probably easier ways to exfoliate than immersing oneself in a hot spa pool with hundreds of voracious fish.  But that is what I find myself doing in a remote part of Turkish Central Anatolia.  Not for me the rhythmic massaging of scented oils and unguents into my skin; shampoos and soaps are banned from the pools in case they harm the fish.  Sixteen hundred metres up in the mountains of this agricultural region of Turkey, near the rural village of Kangal, and 120 kms from the nearest airport, the spa sits beside a snow-melt swollen river in a high valley.  It has made a name for itself, and its resident ‘Doctor’ fish as an alternative treatment for psoriasis, an incurable and painful skin complaint which afflicts about 2 per cent of the UK population.

 

Discovered by a shepherd and his flock in 1917, who was undoubtedly accompanied by the region’s other main claim to fame, a giant sheepdog called a Kanga.  There are at least four of the impressive animals living around the spa and they provide a welcome diversion from the life aquatic.  Anyway, our shepherd stumbled into marshy ground with an injured foot and found the open wound besieged by fish.  The wound healed and eventually word got out to the outside world about these efficacious little creatures. The combination of the metal rich mineral waters, the fish and mountain sunlight have been helping psoriasis sufferers since the first rudimentary spa was built in the 1950’s.   The present hotel buildings, spa pools and changing facilities were built in the narrow mountain valley in the 1970’s.  There are two open air treatment pools and two indoor pools.   Each is home to hundreds of small fish.

 

 

The fish have made a name for themselves as bio-therapists. Members of the carp and minnow family, the two species of fish in the spa pools appear to survive the 37 degree water with no ill effects.  On the advice of Paul McKeown, a construction engineer from Northern Ireland who had flown in from Dubai to take the treatment, I ventured into one of the spa pools which is open to the elements.   The fish were hungry, very hungry. Few spring visitors had been prepared to brave the changeable weather and submerge up to their necks in the blood temperature waters while being pelted by hailstones or snow.  It may sound appalling but was far from as masochistic as it sounds.  Actually, we had quite a laugh. I’d like to make clear at this point that the wearing of bathing suits is mandatory and probably very wise. When changing, Paul found an aberrant fish which he returned to the pool. It survived to nibble another day.

 

Paul is 36, and has had psoriasis since the age of 14,  ‘I’ve tried the lot, steroid creams, Chinese herb tablets, acupuncture, you name it.  The only thing that made a difference to my skin was Methotrexate, but my doctor would only keep me on that for a couple of years.  You cannot drink alcohol with the drug as it can cause liver damage,’ he laughs, ’and I do like a beer.’ When Paul’s skin became painfully reddened and flaky on his hands, he decided to try fish therapy.