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39 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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These are pulses are distinguished by the measured rate, or subjective sense of rate
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Slow (Chi) – Slower than normal
Rapid (Shuo) – Faster than normal Slowed down (Huan) – Slowed, delayed or postponed Hasty (Cu) – Urgent, short Intermittent (Dai) – Stops and starts Hurried (Ji) – Very rapid, agitated, urgent |
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Slow (Chi)
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Description:
Below 60 BPM or less than 4 beats per practitioners breath. Indications: Cold syndromes Forceful and slow - accumulation of cold Forceless and slow - cold from deficiency Slow and floating - external cold Slow and deep - interior cold Slow and choppy - blood disease Slow and slippery - Qi disease |
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Rapid (Shuo)
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Description:
Above 90 BIM, or more than 5 beats per breath. Indications: Heat Syndromes Forceful and rapid - excess heat. Weak and rapid - Deficiency Heat |
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Slowed Down (Huan)
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Description:
About 60 BPM. The beats come and go slowly, feels viscous, the rate is like normal but the slowness shows up at the end of a beat, before a slow pulse. Indications: If deep and relaxed - Damp If floating and relaxed – Wind If large and relaxed – Internal Wind If relaxed and weak – Heart Qi deficiency |
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Hasty (Cu)
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Description:
Rapid and irregularly interrupted Indications: Excess Heat, Domination of Yang, Qi, Blood, Phlegm and Food Stagnation. This can be from an Atrial Fibrillation. This is clinically very severe |
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Intermittent (Dai)
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Description:
Comparatively relaxed and weak, stops at regular intermittent intervals. These intervals may be strikingly long. Indications: Decline of Zang Fu (organ) Qi Wind Syndromes Pain, Terror, Fear, Trauma Can be a sign of advanced heart disease. |
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Hurried (Ji)
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Description:
Very rapid, over 120 BIM, or 7-8 beats per breath. Indications: Hurried and wiry Excess of Yang and exhaustion of Yin Hurried and forceful Impending Yang exhaustion Impending exhaustion of primary Qi Can also be due to Heart Palpitations High fever Note: This can be normal for infants. |
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Pulse descriptions by position
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These pulses are distinguished by the depth or location of the pulses
Floating (Fu) – Felt strongly at the superficial Deep (Chen) – Felt only strongly in the deep Empty (Xu) – Big, soft but no force Full (Shi) – Hard, bounding, forceful Long (Chang) – Felt longer than normal, extends beyond normal Short (Duan) – Felt shorter than normal Overflowing (Hong) – Feels big, extends beyond the positions Fine (Xi) – Feels thinner than normal Minute (Wei) – Like Fine, but even more so. Difficult to feel Tight (Jin) – Feels like a “twisted rope” Wiry (Xian) – Feels taut like a guitar string Hidden (Fu) – Feels deep beneath the bone. Difficult to feel ; |
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Deep (Chen)
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Description:
Located near the bone. Cannot be detected with light or moderate pressure but can be felt with heavy pressure. (Not to say it is impalpable at lighter pressure) Indications: Interior patterns. If deep and rapid - Interior heat If deep and slow - interior cold If deep and forceless - Qi and Yang deficiency If deep and forceful - excess of internal disease |
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Empty (Xu)
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Description:
Generalized term for various types of forceless pulses or is described as a floating, large, slow, empty, deficient, soft, forceless pulse image Indications: Qi and Blood deficiency due to damage by Damp Heat. |
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Full (Shi)
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Description:
Bowstring, large, hard and replete pulse which has a surplus at all 3 levels. Indications: Excess condition where both pathogenic and anitpathogenic factors are strong. |
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Long (Chang)
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Description:
Long and can be felt beyond its location. Felt past the cun position. Indications: Excess liver Yang Yang and Heat Excess in the Interior Strong Pathogenic factors A long and smooth pulse can be normal for some people |
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Short (Duzn)
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Description:
Does not reach the three positions. Can be felt most clearly at the Guan position, more indistinct at the Cun and the Chi. Indications: Short and forceful Qi Stagnation Short and weak Qi deficiency |
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Overflowing (Hong)
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Description:
Floating, large (i.e. wide) comes on exuberant, departs debilitated. "Coming onto the shore with force and retreating without force“ Arrives strong at the chi and departs weak a the cun Indications: Extreme internal heat If surging and forceless Blood surging / blood loss |
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Fine (Xi)
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Description:
Soft, feels like a silken thread, weak, without strength but not scattered by pressure. Indications: Qi and Blood deficiency Deficiency syndromes Disorders due to Damp Etiology: Impairment of Blood fails to make the vessels plentiful. Qi is too deficient to move the blood. May also occur due to compression of vessels by dampness. |
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Minute (Wei)
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Description:
Insufficient, extremely fine, soft, barely palpable. It may be felt and then sometimes it is lost. “Extremely Thready and soft.” Indications: Decline of Yang Qi Yin, Yang, Qi, and Blood Deficiency Etiology: The Yang Qi cannot push the blood in the vessels or the Yin/blood cannot fill the vessels. |
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Tight (Jin)
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Description:
Tight, has strength, feels like a taut rope. Feels like a stretched and twisted rope. Indications: Cold Pain Undigested food Etiology: Caused by the contraction of tense vessels resulting from the conflict between cold and healthy Qi and the obstruction of Yang Qi |
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Wiry (Xian)
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Description:
Feels straight, long and tense, like the feeling of pressing a tight string of a musical instrument. Crisp and distinct edges, tends to reveal itself when one slightly lets up on the pressure. Indications: Liver and Gall Bladder disease Pain Phlegm retention, malaria, abnormal circulation of Qi Stomach Qi exhaustion if like edge of a knife [wiry to the extreme] |
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Hidden (Fu)
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Description:
Difficult to feel, under the sinews, not obvious, requires heavy pressure to obtain. Almost to the bone. Deeper than the deep pulse. Indications: Severe pain Extreme stagnation of food or of pathogens Syncope Last stage of an illness, coma, and lack of circulation |
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Pulse descriptions by quality distinguished by the quality of the pulses
Hollow (Kou) |
Felt at superficial, not in the middle, then felt in the deep
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Leather (Ge)
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Hard and tight at superficial but empty in the deep
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Firm (Lao)
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Felt only at the deep, where it feels hard and wiry
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Soggy / Weak and floating (Ru)
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Felt only on the superficial, disappears under more pressure
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Weak (Ruo)
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Can not be felt on the superficial, only soft in the deep
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Scattered (San)
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Feels small and superficial. Feels like popcorn instead of a wave
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Moving (Dong)
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Feels round like a bean and trembles under your fingers, no clear shape
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Knotted (Jie)
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Slow and stops at irregular intervals
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Choppy (Se)
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Rough, sluggish, “Like knife scraping bamboo”
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Slippery (Hua)
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Smooth like pearls rolling on a dish
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Hollow (Kou) [onion skin pulse]
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Description:
Floating, soft, large body, but empty in the center. Forceless--large and weak. Indications: Hemorrhage, Damage of Yin [i.e. from chemotherapy], Great Blood Loss (severe diarrhea/hemorrhage) |
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Leather (Ge)
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Description:
Bowstring and large (wide) with an empty center; feels like the head of a drum. Felt with light pressure. Floating, large, and hard and resistant to pressure. Indications: Hemorrhage, Spermatorrhea, Abortion, Excessive Menstrual Flow, Deficiency Cold (Yang deficiency) |
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Firm (Lao)
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Description:
Pressed superficially or moderately, it does not respond, but can be obtained by heavy pressure. Hard, firm, not changeable, replete, large, bowstring, and long. Indications: Internal cold, Hernia, abdominal masses, Wind epilepsy, inflexibility, and cramping, hard accumulations hidden in the interior, running piglet and sudden violent counterflow. Etiology: The pathogenic factors are steady, there is interior cold and decline of Yang Qi |
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Soggy / Weak and Floating (Ru)
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[think dampness]
Description: Floating, fine, soft and flexible. Can be felt with light pressure but cannot be obtained by heavy pressure. "Floating, thready, and soft" "Like a silk thread in water" Indications: Primarily due to Dampness, Yin deficiency, Blood deficiency, Spleen deficiency Etiology: The dampness is obstructing the vessels or the Qi and Blood are unable to fill the vessels giving it its soft quality. This is distinguished from other floating pulses, which tend to be large(i.e. wide); ; |
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Knotted (`Jie)
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Description: Slow, relaxed, stops at irregular intervals.
Indications: Stagnation of Qi due to excess Yin Blood Stasis due to cold phlegm Blood Stagnation. Sometimes abdominal masses Heart palpitations Etiology: Yin and Yang out of balance due to excess Yin. (This represents an irregular beat or palpitation stemming from the ventricle of the Heart) |
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Choppy (Se)
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Description:
Slow, relaxed, stagnant, difficult, fine, may stop and loose a beat but then recovers. It is not smoothly flowing. It feels like a knife scraping bamboo. Indications: Consumption of essence Blood Xu Stagnation of Qi Blood Stagnation Phlegm or food stagnation It can also be due to heart palpitations. |
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Slippery (Hua)
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Description:
Comes smoothly flowing and uninhibited; feels smooth like pearls rolling in a dish. Beats come and go fluently and smoothly, feeling slick to the fingers Indications: Phlegm retention Indigestion, excess heat May also indicate dampness Normal for women during pregnancy or menstruation |
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Scattered (San) = [think popcorn]
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Description:
Floating, large without root, without definite edges and boundaries, not characterized as an irregular beat pulse, although it feels chaotic. It is a further progression from the Hollow pulse, being even weaker than the Hollow. "Like wind blowing hair or scattered leaves" Indications: Dispersion of Source Qi Kidney Source Qi deficiency Severe deficiency and exhaustion of internal organ Qi; ; |
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Moving (Dong) =
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Description:
Slippery, rapid, forceful, feels like a bean--strong and throbbing abruptly. "Without head or tail" This is most distinguished at the Guan position, and is a subcategory of the short pulse. Indications: Pain Fright Shock Etiology: Conflict between Yin and Yang, disturbance of ascending and descending, leading to faster circulation of Qi and Blood which makes it appear smooth, rapid, and forceful yet palpable over a narrow region. |
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Floating (Fu) =
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Description:
Located in the exterior. With the finger raised, it has a surplus, when pressing down it is insufficient, weak, or disappears. When pressure is released, it regains full strength. Indications: External invasion Yin deficiency with Yang floating upwards Qi or Yang deficiency Yang Qi loosing its root in the lower part of the body and floating to the upper regions. |
