CCM Diagnosis Flashcards
normal tongue
good shen: vibrant, vital
body color: fresh pale red
coat: thin, white (or slight yellow), slightly thicker at root
shape: moderate, no scallops, not curled up or down
no crevices or depressions
no movement
pathological tongue color
Red = heat (excess or yin deficiency) Purple = blood stagnation Dusky = qi stagnation Pale = qi, blood, or yang deficiency
The tongue image of both Qi and blood deficiency
Qi xu: pale + tender, slightly flabby
Blood xu: pale + slightly dry or smaller
yin/yang: tongue pulse
pulse: choppy/slippery
tongue: body = yin organs/coat = yang organs
exterior/interior : pulse tongue
pulse: floating/deep
tongue: thick coat/thin or no coat
cold heat
pulse tongue
pulse: slow/rapid
tongue: pale, bluish or purple/red, crimson
xs/ xu
pulse tongue
pulse: replete/deplete
tongue: rough/tender
normal 4 seasonal pulses
Spring: floating
Summer: flooding
Fall: sinking
Winter: stony (like a stone sinking to the bottom of a pond)
Fu (floating) pulse
Quality: very superficial (heaven level)
Felt with a gentle touch and becomes weaker but never becomes empty under heavy pressure.
“ Feels like a piece of wood floating on the water.”
Indication: exterior syndrome, Qi &blood Xu in chronic disease
Exterior syndrome
Xie Qi invades the surface and the Zheng Qi rises up to fight Xie Qi.
- Floating + tight –wind cold invasion
- Floating + loose – wind dampness
- Floating + slowdown- deficient type of wind cold invasion “Zhong Feng” ·
Floating + rapid – wind heat invasion
Yang Qi floating away
Floating + scattering – collapse of Yang in critical condition
Floating + choppy – Yang Qi floating away after severe hemorrhage.
Chen Mai (deep pulse)
Quality: deep located at the earth layer, hard to feel under light pressure, revealed only when heavy pressure is applied. “ throw a stone into water and the stone sinks to the bottom”
Indication: Interior syndrome
- Deep+forceful – Shi type, pathogens deep inside the body
Deep+forceless- Xu type, Yin, Yang, Qi and blood deficiency
Chi Mai (slow pulse)
Quality: it refers to the rate of pulse (not strength or location), less than 4 beats per breath.
Indication: Cold syndrome
- Slow+forceful – cold invasion
- Slow+ forceless- deficient cold (generated from Yang deficiency)
- Slow + superficial – exterior cold
- Slow + deep – internal cold
Congested heat inside body:
Heat mixing with stools in the large intestines, block Qi flow, suppress blood vessels, cause deep and forceful pulse, which present in the Yangming Fu syndrome.
Shuo Mai (rapid pulse)
Quality: 5 beats per breath
Indication: heat syndrome
- Rapid +forceful – excessive (full) heat
- Rapid +forceless – deficient (empty) heat
- Taut, tense, tight, wiry – width consolidates and density increases
Hua Mai (slippery pulse)
Quality: kind of rapid pulse comes and goes smoothly as if it slides under your fingers. “ beads rolling on a plate”
Indication:
- Slippery and rapid – heat syndrome or damp heat , or phlegm heat, stagnant food, retention of Tan/Ying
- Healthy people: ample/abundant with Qi and blood
- Pregnant woman: blood flows into the uterus to nourish fetus instead of menstruation.