Yesterday I had a patient come in suffering from heel pain who was rather incredulous that their previous podiatrist had not touched their feet. There are surely many of us who treat heel pain on a daily basis who are bored to death with this condition. We know it all too well and can probably recite our standard heel pain spiel in our sleep. That is not an excuse for dismissing a patient’s concerns and treating them in a cursory manner.

Our sense of touch often provides an important sensory input we need to come to a proper diagnosis. One of the things that we find is most appreciated by our senior patients is a foot massage following our medical treatment. I truly believe that many people, especially seniors, suffer from a lack of touch.

In researching this topic I came across fascinating references to touching the feet of seniors in Hindu culture:

The Hindu tradition states that by touching the feet of elders, people are blessed with strength, intellect, Knowledge and fame. The underlying symbolism of this act is that the elders have walked on this earth longer than you and have accumulated a great amount of wisdom. You can in fact immensely benefit even from the dust that their feet have gathered all along the way.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQplFtWZLxw

The ancient wisdom of human cultures cannot be easily dismissed.  Aside from that, the fact that you could see a podiatrist and not have your feet touched is nearly unbelievable. The tactile sense is integral in the proper diagnosis of foot conditions.