| Name | Clinical Significance | Feeling | Kind | Aspect | Body Psych |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Invasion of external Wind Yin deficiency (interior conditions) | This pulse can be felt with a light pressure of the fingers, just resting the fingers on the artery. | Floating Deep Slow Rapid Empty Full | depth rate strength size length shape rhythm | ||
Pathogenic factor in the Interior (Deep-Full) Yang deficiency (Deep-Weak) | This pulse is the opposite to floating: it can only be felt with a heavy pressure of the fingers and is felt near the bone. | Deep | depth rate strength size length shape rhythm | ||
Cold patternEmpty-Cold (Slow and Weak) Full-Cold (Slow and Full) | This pulse has three beats per respiration cycle | Slow | rate | ||
Heat pattern Full-Heat (Rapid and Full) Empty-Heat (Rapid and Floating-Empty) | This pulse has more than five beats per each respiration cycle | Rapid | rate | ||
Qi deficiency | The Empty pulse feels rather big but soft. | Empty | strength | ||
Full pattern Full-Heat (Full-Rapid) Full-Cold (Full-Slow) | This pulse feels full, rather hard and rather long. | Full | strength | ||
Phlegm Dampness Retention of food Pregnancy | A Slippery pulse feels smooth, rounded, slippery to the touch, as if it were oily. It slides under the fingers. | Other | shape | ||
Blood deficiency Exhaustion of Body Fluids | This pulse feels rough under the finger | Other | shape | ||
Heat pattern | This pulse is basically longer than normal | Full | length | ||
Severe Qi deficiency Stomach-Qi deficiency | Occupies a shorter space than the normal position | Empty | length | ||
Full-Heat Empty-Heat (Overflowing-Empty) | This pulse feels big, extending beyond normal pulse position. | Full | size | ||
Blood deficiency Dampness with severe Qi deficiency | This pulse is thinner than normal | Empty | size | ||
Severe deficiency of Qi and Blood | It is extremely thin, small and difficult to feel | Empty | size | ||
Cold Exterior Cold (Tight-Floating) Interior Full-Cold (Tight-Full-Deep) Interior Empty-Cold (Tight-Weak-Deep) Pain | This pulse feels twisted like a thick rope | Full | shape | ||
Liver disharmony Pain Phlegm | This pulse feels taut like a guitar string. The Wiry pulse really hits the fingers. | Other | shape | ||
G | This pulse has four beats for each respiration cycle | Slow | rate | ||
Haemorrhage Forthcoming haemorrhage (Hollow and Rapid) | Empty in the middle, felt superficial and deep. | Floating | shape | ||
Severe deficiency of Kidney-Essence Severe deficiency of Kidney-Yin | This pulse feels hard and tight at the superficial level and stretched like a drum, but it feels completely Empty at the deep level. It is a large pulse, not thin. | Floating | depth | ||
Blood stasis Interior Cold (Firm and Slow) Pain | Wiry pulse at the deep level | Deep | shape | ||
Dampness with Qi deficiency Deficiency of Yin Deficiency of Essence | The Soggy pulse feels very soft and is only slightly floating. | Empty | other | ||
Yang deficiency Blood deficiency | Felt only at the deep level | Empty | strength | ||
Severe deficiency of Qi and Blood Severe deficiency of Kidney-Qi Serious condition | This pulse feels very small and is relatively superficial | Empty | strength | ||
Severe Yang deficiency | This pulse feels as if it were hidden beneath the bone | Deep | depth | ||
Shock anxiety fright pain | The Moving pulse has a round shape like a bean; it is short and it ‘trembles’ under the finger | Rapid | length | ||
Severe Heat Deficiency of Heart-Qi Heart-Fire | This pulse is Rapid and it stops at irregular intervals | Rapid | rhythm | ||
Cold with deficiency of Heart-Yang | This pulse is Slow and it stops at irregular intervals | Slow | rhythm | ||
Serious problem in Internal Organ Heart problem (in Western medical sense) | This pulse stops at regular intervals | Other | rhythm | ||
Fire exhausting Yin | This pulse is very rapid, but it also feels very agitated and urgent | Rapid | rate |