Pulse Types Flashcards
Floating/Superficial
Fu mai: higher than normal, distinct at a light or superficial level of pressure, less perceptible when palpated @ middle or deep level. exterior (W-H, W-C), yin xu if weak, severe interior qi xu
Deep/Sinking
Chen Mai: distinct only at the 3rd level, w/ heavy pressure is applied by the bone. Interior, qi/blood stasis (if full), yang xu if weak
Slow
Chi Mai: few that 4 beats/breath, 3 beats/respiration cycle; Cold, Full Cold, Empty Cold, may be yang xu or qi xu
Rapid
Shu Mai: 5 beats/ respiration “racing pulse”=7 beats/breath; Heat, Full Heat (if full), Empty heat (if floating, empty)
Empty/Deficient/Vacuous
Xu Mai: big, but soft/ w/o strength, like a balloon filled w/ water, felt at superficial level may be slower than normal; Qi/Blood Xu
Full/Excess/Replete
Shi Mai: big & strong pounding against the fingers at all 3 depths; Excess, Full Heat (if rapid), Full Cold (if slow)
Surging/Flooding
Hong Mai: arrives like waves arriving flourishing, departing debilitates, feels big extending beyond the pulse position ; Excess Heat, Empty Heat (if empty), injuring fluids or after a long illness
Thin/Fine/Thready
Xi Mai: Fine like thread, clearly felt; Blood xu, damp w/ severe qi xu CAM: qi, blood, or yin xu d/t stress & overstrain
Slippery/rolling
Hua Mai: feels smooth, rounded, as in oil, “pearls in porcelain basin,” “slithers like a snake;” Accumulation of Phlegm, Damp or Food (if full), Phlegm or Damp q/ qi xu (if weak), Normal in pregnancy
Choppy/Hesitant/Rough
Se Mai: opposite of slippery, uneven and rough, sometimes irregular in strength and fullness, “a knife scraping bamboo or a sick silkworm eating mulberry leaf); Blood or Jing xu if weak, qi or blood stasis (if strong), body fluid exhaustion (following profuse sweating or vomiting)
Wiry/String-Taut
Xuan Mai: taut like a guitar string, harder than tight pulse, rebounds against all pressures; LV disharmony, pain, phlegm
Tight/Tense
Jin Mai: Feels twisted like a rope, strong and seems to bounce from side to side like a taut rope, it seems faster than it actually is; Cold, Exterior cold (if floating), int. full cold (if full & deep), int. empty cold (if weak-deep), pain
Soggy/Soft
Ru Mai: ONLY on superficial level thin + empty+ floating “ a bubble floating on water” very soft and only sl. floating; damp w/ qi xu, yin xu, essence xu
Weak/Frail
Ruo: soft+weak+frail. felt at a deep level, like an inverted empty pulse; qi and xue xu, yang xu- extreme qi xu! qi cannot even raise the pulse
Hasty/Abrupt/Hurried
Cu: rapid pulse that skips beats irregularly; excess yang heat, qi/xue stagnation, food/phlegm accumulation, collapse syndrome if weak, SEVERE HEAT, HT qi xu, HT fire
Knotted
Jie: slow, irregular pulse that skips beats irregularly; Cold, HT Qi or Yang xu, excess yin, cold obstructing qi/blood, qi/blood/jing xu, HT not ruling blood properly
Intermittent
Dai: usually skips more beats than the “hasty” or “knotted” pulse, but does so in regular intervals; exhausted states of all internal organs, HT prob in western
Long
Chang: longer than normal, extends more than a normal one toward the elbow; heat pattern, surplus of yang qi, excess if (tight-wiry), normal (if normal speed/strength)
Short
Duan: doesn’t fill spaces under 3 fingers, usually only feel one position; severe qi xu, ST qi xu
Minute/Faint
Wei: extremely fine, extremely soft, difficult to feel like about to disappear; severe xu of qi and blood, extreme xu
Slow-Down/Moderate
Huan: four beats per breath; healthy, perfectly balanced pulse
Hollow/Scallion
Kou: “stem of green onion” solid on outside completely empty within, often floating; blood xu, great loss of blood (hemorrhage), yin damage
Leather/Drumskin
Ge: wiry (tight)+floating+empty, tight like the skin of a drum; severe xu of KD essence or KD yin, blood or jing xu
Firm/Prison/Confines
Lao: very deep+wiry+long+strong; blood stasis, interior cold (if slow), pain