What is Pulse Diagnosis?

Pulse diagnosis is an extremely effective method of helping a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner to provide an accurate diagnosis. The pulse is very important for two main reasons. The main reason is that it provides extremely detailed information of the condition of the internal organs. It does this because it reflects the state of Qi (energy) and blood in the body. As well as indicating the state of the internal organs, the pulse also identifies external, short-term influences (ie. a flu or cold).

A practitioner will feel the pulse in three positions on both wrists.

A normal pulse should feel gentle, calm and relatively slow (4 beats per breath); the pulse should be strong but soft and regular. It should be neither too shallow, nor too deep. Also, one should be able to feel the rear position clearly, indicating strong Kidney energy. There are 27 abnormal pulses; each different pulse can indicate organ level problems.

Examples of pulses commonly seen in the clinic are:

Taut pulse
Feels like a guitar string, on the left wrist it can indicate Liver disharmony such as Liver stagnation with symptoms such as irritability, sighing, PMT. It can also indicate pain or phlegm.

Slippery pulse
Feels smooth, rounded and slippery to the touch. It can indicate phlegm, dampness, and retention of food or pregnancy. If the pulse is slippery in the Spleen position, it can indicate a feeling of heaviness of the body and limbs, being overweight or oedema. In the Lung position it can indicate phlegm in the Lungs. Symptoms may include a productive cough with yellow or white phlegm and can also be a cough where it is difficult to bring up the phlegm but the chest feels stuffy and/or tight and shortness of breath may be experienced

Superficial pulse
Can be felt with light pressure from the fingers. It can indicate an invasion of Wind-heat or Wind-cold (cold or flu). It can also indicate energies stagnating at the front of the head causing a headache. It can also indicate blood pressure problems.

The pulse is an incredibly useful diagnostic tool and an experienced practitioner can use it to identify problems in the body that have not as yet manifested.

Position Left Wrist
Front - Heart
Middle - Liver/Gallbladder
Rear - Kidney Yin/Small Intestine/Bladder

Position Right Wrist
Front - Lung
Middle - Spleen/Stomach
Rear - Kidney Yang/Large Intestine