Hands as diagnostic tools in medicine: should physicians touch their patients?

The Creation of Adam, a section of Michelangelo’s fresco Sistine Chapel ceiling, illustrates the Biblical creation in which God gives life to Adam, the first man. The image of the near-touching hands of God and Adam has become one of the most iconic images of touching as a way of giving life. Hands have always had an important significance in the fine arts, poetry, literature, and movies, expressing feelings, such as solidarity, charity, caress, companionship, love, affection, cure, protection, and commitment.