Pulse Diagnosis

Pulse diagnosis, as it applies to Oriental Medicine, is the most important form of palpation, and is very different from that of Western physicians.

You may notice Dr. Martin taking your pulse several times during a treatment. You may also notice him checking several positions on each wrist. In performing Oriental Medicine pulse palpation, the Doctor of Oriental Medicine places the index, middle, and ring fingers on the radial artery. Three degrees of pressure, the light touch, the medium touch, and the heavy touch are applied to the region and correspond to the upper, middle, and lower areas of the body.

In oriental medical terms, there are 28 pulse classifications, which describe the way the pulse feels to the fingertip. Some examples of these classifications are:

• Slippery - feels like a rolling pearl in a basin, very fluid and full
• Choppy - has no strength and is irregular
• Full - large and rounded, can be felt at all levels
• Empty - hard to detect or felt only slightly at the superficial level when pressure is applied
• Slow - slower than the normal rate of four to five beats per breath
• Rapid - six to seven beats per breath
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• Superficial - easily felt on the skin surface
• Deep - only felt with a heavy touch

These, along with 20 other descriptions, must be taken into consideration during pulse diagnosis. This requires a tremendous amount of skill and practice, and when properly executed is one of the most important and accurate means of correctly diagnosing a patient. In fact, pulse and tongue diagnosis are considered to be the "two pillars" of the four examinations in traditional practice.

By monitoring these pulses Dr. Martin can tell if a treatment is working, and develop an idea of the Oriental Medical state of each organ system.