Pulse Types

Question 1

Floating/Superficial

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Deep/Sinking

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Slow

Answer 3

Chi Mai: few that 4 beats/breath, 3 beats/respiration cycle; Cold, Full Cold, Empty Cold, may be yang xu or qi xu

Question 4

Rapid

Answer 4

Shu Mai: 5 beats/ respiration “racing pulse”=7 beats/breath; Heat, Full Heat (if full), Empty heat (if floating, empty)

Question 5

Empty/Deficient/Vacuous

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Full/Excess/Replete

Answer 6

Shi Mai: big & strong pounding against the fingers at all 3 depths; Excess, Full Heat (if rapid), Full Cold (if slow)

Question 7

Surging/Flooding

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Thin/Fine/Thready

Answer 8

Xi Mai: Fine like thread, clearly felt; Blood xu, damp w/ severe qi xu CAM: qi, blood, or yin xu d/t stress & overstrain

Question 9

Slippery/rolling

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Choppy/Hesitant/Rough

Answer 10

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)

Question 11

Wiry/String-Taut

Answer 11

Xuan Mai: taut like a guitar string, harder than tight pulse, rebounds against all pressures; LV disharmony, pain, phlegm

Question 12

Tight/Tense

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Soggy/Soft

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Weak/Frail

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Hasty/Abrupt/Hurried

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Knotted

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Intermittent

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Long

Answer 18

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)

Question 19

Short

Answer 19

Duan: doesn’t fill spaces under 3 fingers, usually only feel one position; severe qi xu, ST qi xu

Question 20

Minute/Faint

Answer 20

Wei: extremely fine, extremely soft, difficult to feel like about to disappear; severe xu of qi and blood, extreme xu

Question 21

Slow-Down/Moderate

Answer 21

Huan: four beats per breath; healthy, perfectly balanced pulse

Question 22

Hollow/Scallion

Answer 22

Kou: “stem of green onion” solid on outside completely empty within, often floating; blood xu, great loss of blood (hemorrhage), yin damage

Question 23

Leather/Drumskin

Answer 23

Ge: wiry (tight)+floating+empty, tight like the skin of a drum; severe xu of KD essence or KD yin, blood or jing xu

Question 24

Firm/Prison/Confines

Answer 24

Lao: very deep+wiry+long+strong; blood stasis, interior cold (if slow), pain

Question 25

Scattered

Answer 25

San: similar to empty: floating+ big+weak, very small and superficial, “broken” in small dots; serious disharmony, severe xu of qi and blood or KD qi, KD yang exhausted and floating away

Question 26

Hidden

Answer 26

Fu: extreme form of “sinking” pulse feels like it is beneath the bone, intense pressure is needed to feel it; severe Yang xu, cold obstructing the meridian

Question 27

Moving/spinning bean

Answer 27

Dong: short+tight+slippery+rapid, no definite shape; shock, anxiety, fright, pain, extreme condition, HT palps, fever

Question 28

Hurried-FCM

Big-PRD, WEB

Answer 28

Ji: very rapid, but also agitated and urgent; fire exhausting yin
Da: large and full, location is broad; Heat in ST/INTs, entrance of dz, outward floating of yang vacuity