Foot massage used as general examination

For the proper diagnosis of diseases, the mental condition, facial complexion, physical constitution, sense organs and tongue coating all should be carefully examined. Through clinical practice over a long period of time, traditional Chinese physicians have found a close relationship between manifestations on the body surface and the functioning of the internal organs. Therefore, the examination of the appearance of body's surface is very useful for understanding pathological changes in the human body. However, extemal appearances are only superficial manifestations of disease and cannot show all its pathological properties. Therefore, a disease can be correctly diagnosed only after combining a general examination with other essential diagnostic techniques.
   
The feet should be carefully monitored for deformity, papule, changes in skin color, varicose veins, corns, tinea pedis or calluses which could indicate the presence of pathological changes in other parts of the body.
   
Examination of Skin:
Generally, the skin of the foot is rougher than the skin at any other part of the body. Abnormalities found on the skin of the foot may reflect pathological changes in the correspondent organs.
   
Examination may reveal the following lesions: Corns, rhagns, tinea pedis, plantar wart, wound, blister, burn lesion, venous aneurysm, nodule, papule, pigmentation, depression, desquamation, congestion, callus, edema, pustule, ulcer, keratinization, scar, flushing skin, or exudation as well as deformity and discoloration of the toe nails. The normal nail is smooth, shiny, hard and arc shaped. In a normal nail, the red color beneath it will fade away when pressure is applied to the nail, but will immediately be restored. Abnormal changes in the nails can be evidence of pathological changes occurring in the body. For example, an extremely downward curving nail may indicate the presence of a malignant tumor in the body; an inwardly curving nail may indicate alcoholism; a flat nail which fails to regain its color underneath after pressure is relieved and with a reduced semilunar area may indicate the presence of heart diseases; vertical creases may appear on  the nails in people who are overfatigued from an irregular lifestyle or in patients with nervous system and respiratory symptoms; and horizontal creases may appear either before or after a critical disease.
   
The semilunar area of the nail can also indicate the body's general health. The height of this area in normal people is equal to one fifth the length of the nail. In patients with heart disease and hypertension, the semilunar area is greater than one fifth, and in patients with anemia, the height is much less than one fifth the length of the nail.
  
Examination of Tissue:
Because the foot is closely related to the entire body, the foot tissue may also reflect diseases of the internal organs. For example, edema and blood congestion usually appear in the ankle and Achilles tendon region, where the correspondent areas of internal organs in the chest and pelvic cavities are.
   
The Edema of the ankle region usually appears in patients with diseases of the kidney, heart or circulatory system, or in patients with blood congestion in the pelvic cavity due to disturbance of the veins, arteries, or lymphatic vessels, or of the nervous or endocrinal systems. Some small fatty polyps also may be found on both dorsums of the feet near the roots of the toes.
   
Examination of Bones:
Abnormal bones in the foot may produce general discomfort of the body.
   
A flat foot may affect the reflecting areas of the shoulder, spinal column and circulatory system; a right flat foot may affect the reflecting areas of the gallbladder and biliary tract, and a left flat foot may affect the reflecting area of the heart.