Medicine and the Senses: Towards Integrative Practices

Paying attention to the senses has been part of historical practice for some decades and has special resonance in the history of medicine since the senses play a central role in all aspects of health care and medical sciences. Both practitioners and patients rely upon them in complex ways. Using a range of primary and secondary sources, this article reflects on what is gained by a focus on the senses, for our understanding of both medicine and our own historical practices. It advocates a generous, expanded understanding of the senses to include, for example, somatic affinity.