Hello, I am a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wen Junran. Welcome to today’s “Classical Clarifications”.
We continue our discussion on pulses. What shall we talk about? Let’s discuss the fine pulse.
The so-called fine pulse, as the name suggests, is a pulse that is particularly thin, resembling a thread. Do you have a thread at home? If so, take it out, stretch it straight, and place it under your fingers to feel.
Moreover, although the fine pulse is thin, the response at the fingertips is quite distinct; it is definitely not the same as a deep pulse or a weak pulse. Therefore, when ancient practitioners described the fine pulse, they used the phrase: “脉细如线、应指分明” (the pulse is fine as a thread, and the response is clear).
What does a fine pulse indicate? It suggests two issues.
The first is a deficiency syndrome, whether it is Qi deficiency (气虚) or blood deficiency (血虚), both of which can lead to weak blood circulation and an inability for the pulse vessels to fill, resulting in a particularly fine pulse.
The second is a dampness syndrome (湿证). If a person has dampness evil (湿邪) in their body, the sticky nature of dampness can obstruct the pulse vessels, hindering blood flow, which can also result in a fine pulse. Therefore, when discussing the fine pulse, one generally considers deficiency and dampness.
Additionally, the fine pulse often appears in patients with warm diseases (温病). In cases of severe warm disease, symptoms such as delirium may occur. If a fine pulse is present and is thin yet rapid, it is often indicative of heat evil penetrating the Ying and blood (营血), or the evil invading the heart protector (心包). These are considered serious manifestations.
Alright, that’s all I have to say about the fine pulse. Thank you for reading.
