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14 Common Pulse Types
(1) Floating Pulse (Fu Mai)
The pulse is superficial. It can be felt lightly, but pressing harder makes it slightly weaker. This pulse often indicates an exterior condition, suggesting the disease is located on the surface. A floating and tight pulse indicates exterior cold, while a floating and rapid pulse indicates exterior heat. A strong floating pulse suggests excess, while a weak floating pulse indicates deficiency. Commonly seen in the early stages of colds, flu, and various infectious diseases. However, it can also appear in chronic illnesses with deficiency or in cases of yin deficiency where floating yang is externally manifested as a weak floating pulse.
(2) Deep Pulse (Chen Mai) (also known as Fù Fù Pulse)
The pulse is deep. It is not felt lightly, but can be felt with firm pressure. This pulse indicates an interior condition; a strong deep pulse suggests interior excess, while a weak deep pulse indicates interior deficiency. A deep and slow pulse suggests interior cold, while a deep and rapid pulse indicates interior heat. A deep and choppy pulse suggests qi stagnation or blood stasis, commonly seen in edema, abdominal pain, chronic illnesses, and various deficiency diseases.
Fù Pulse: This pulse is even deeper than the deep pulse, only felt with significant pressure, indicating internal obstruction of pathogenic qi or severe pain.
(3) Slow Pulse (Chí Mai)
The pulse rate is low, with less than four beats per breath (less than 60 beats per minute), indicating a cold condition. A strong slow pulse suggests cold accumulation (yang deficiency with yin excess), while a weak slow pulse indicates deficiency cold, commonly seen in conditions of heart qi deficiency.
(4) Rapid Pulse (Shuò Mai) (also known as Jí Mai)
The pulse rate is high, with more than six beats per breath (more than 90 beats per minute). This indicates a heat condition; a floating rapid pulse suggests exterior heat, while a deep rapid pulse indicates interior heat. A strong rapid pulse suggests excess heat, while a thin rapid pulse indicates deficiency heat. A wiry rapid pulse suggests excessive liver fire, commonly seen in febrile diseases or hyperthyroidism. A rapid but weak pulse can also be seen in qi deficiency.
Jí Pulse: This pulse has a rate of seven to eight beats per breath (approximately 120 beats per minute), often indicating extreme yang energy with declining yin energy or a critical condition of qi exhaustion.
(5) Slippery Pulse (Huá Mai)
The pulse feels smooth and flowing, like rolling beads, often indicating excessive pathogenic factors, phlegm, or food stagnation. This pulse can sometimes be seen in healthy individuals with abundant qi and blood, and is commonly observed in pregnant women. In pathological cases, it is often seen in phlegm-dampness, food stagnation, blood stasis, and excess heat conditions, such as various inflammations, indigestion, menstrual disorders, and malignant tumors.
(6) Choppy Pulse (Sè Mai)
The pulse feels rough and stagnant, like scraping bamboo, often indicating deficiency of essence, low blood volume, qi stagnation, or blood stasis, commonly seen in anemia, blood loss, postpartum conditions, and blood stasis diseases.
(7) Wiry Pulse (Xián Mai)
The pulse is straight and long, like pressing a bowstring, with significant tension and elasticity, indicating high hardness of the pulse vessel. This pulse suggests qi stagnation, liver and gallbladder diseases, and pain conditions. Commonly seen in exterior conditions of lesser yang, liver diseases, gallbladder diseases, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, and various pain syndromes.
(8) Tight Pulse (Jǐn Mai)
The pulse feels tense and strong, like a tightly twisted rope, indicating significant tension and force. This pulse suggests cold conditions, pain conditions, and food stagnation, commonly seen in exterior wind-cold conditions and severe pain.
(9) Moderate Pulse (Huǎn Mai)
The pulse has four beats per breath, neither fast nor slow, neither strong nor weak, with a gentle and moderate quality, indicating normal stomach qi, commonly seen in healthy individuals. In pathological cases, it may indicate dampness obstructing qi or recovery after illness.
(10) Surging Pulse (Hóng Mai) (also known as Dà Mai)
The pulse is large and surging, like turbulent waves, with a wide shape and significant fluctuation. This pulse indicates a heat condition, with excessive yang heat. Commonly seen in patients with high fever.
Dà Pulse: This pulse is large but lacks the surging quality, often indicating disease progression, suggesting that a large pulse indicates disease advancement (large and strong) or deficiency (large and weak).
(11) Thin Pulse (Xì Mai) (also known as Small Pulse)
The pulse is thin like a thread, narrow, and with small fluctuations. This pulse indicates deficiency conditions (qi deficiency and low blood volume), commonly seen in various deficiency syndromes and chronic disease patients.
The small pulse is synonymous with the thin pulse, indicating the same conditions.
(12) Rapid Irregular Pulse (Cù Mai)
The pulse is rapid and irregular, sometimes stopping, with no fixed pattern, indicating a rapid pulse with irregular intervals. This pulse suggests excessive yang heat or stagnation of qi, blood, phlegm, or food, commonly seen in conditions of qi stagnation, blood stasis, swelling, pain, and various excess heat conditions. A thin and rapid pulse with no strength often indicates a state of collapse.
(13) Knotted Pulse (Jié Mai)
The pulse is slow and occasionally stops, with no fixed pattern, indicating a slow and irregular pulse. This pulse suggests excessive yin cold accumulation or qi and blood stasis, commonly seen in qi stagnation, blood stasis, phlegm accumulation, food stagnation, and conditions like hernias. A knotted and weak pulse indicates qi and blood deficiency, commonly seen in chronic illnesses and various heart diseases causing arrhythmias.
(14) Intermittent Pulse (Dài Mai)
The pulse stops intermittently, with a fixed number of stops, unable to return on its own, and resumes after a long pause, indicating a regular pattern of pauses. This pulse has a specific number of beats followed by a pause, with a longer pause indicating signs of weak organ qi, commonly seen in arrhythmias such as bigeminy or trigeminy.
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