Guest guest Posted July 11, 2000 Report Share Posted July 11, 2000 A weak pulse is one that can only be felt with difficulty at one of 3 levels of pressure. If you increase or decrease the pressure on the wrist a weak pulse disappears. A weak pulse may be floating (felt with the lightest pressure) or sinking (felt only with a lot of pressure on the wrist). A floating pulse most often is associated with External problems; a sinking pulse signifies an Interior condition. An Interior condition is one in which the imbalance is deep within the body. It's not just at the level of the meridians and muscles, arms and legs and head, it's in the trunk of the body and in the Organs. A strong pulse is one that is stronger than normal. It can be felt at any of the 3 levels of pressure though it may be felt stronger at one. A floating strong pulse will be felt strongest with light pressure. A sinking strong pulse will be felt most easily at the deeper levels of pressure. When you take your pulse or those of family members and friends you shouldn't have any problems identifying a weak pulse because you will have trouble finding it, and it will disappear with any increase or decrease of pressure. Identifying what is meant by a strong pulse is a bit more difficult because normal pulses are fairly strong. At present because you don't know what normal is, recognizing a strong pulse may be difficult unless it's really pounding. The diagnostic significance of a weak pulse is it's associated with Deficiency conditions. Deficiency conditions are imbalances that cause problems because there's not enough of something. Not enough Qi, Blood, Yang, and/or Yin. If a pulse is floating and weak, this can signify External Deficiency Cold or Heat (yes, these do occur though not very often), or it can signify Yin or Blood Deficiency. This quality of weakness that is associated with Deficiency (Qi, Blood, Yang, and/or Yin Deficiency) doesn't only show up in the pulse. The movements and speech of a person with Deficiency will tend to be weak. Weak voice, weak movements. In contrast, a strong pulse signifies Excess. Imbalances due to Excess create problems because there is too much of something. Too much Cold, too much Heat, too much Dampness, too much Yin, too much Yang, Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis and Phlegm. (Any Qi Stagnation, Blood Stasis, or Phlegm is too much of something, and these conditions automatically are classified as Excess conditions.) Sometimes Deficiency can cause Excess. Like when the Spleen is Qi Deficient and not doing it's job of moving and transforming fluids which in turn allows Dampness to accumulate and even turn to Phlegm (Excess). This is where TCM pulse diagnosis gets more complicated than Western pulse taking. In these cases the pulse may be weak in the Spleen position but strong in another position. Or the overall quality of the pulse in all positions may be " slippery " . Quite a bit of variation is possible in mixed patterns. But don't worry about this. For now, just learn the basics. Floating often indicates Exterior, sinking indicates Interior, weak indicates Deficiency, and strong indicates Excess. Heat and Cold in the body can slow up in the pulse too. A slow pulse usually indicates Cold. A rapid pulse almost always indicates Heat. Think of how cold slows things down. When water molecules slow down enough, they freeze into ice. Think of the expression " as slow as molasses in January. " This slow quality of Cold shows up not only in the pulse but in the movments and speech of people suffering from Cold. These people will tend to move slowly and speak slowly in addition to the pulse being slow. In contrast, Heat speeds things up. The pulse, movements, and speech of someone suffering from a Heat imbalance will tend to be rapid. One of the exceptions to a slow pulse meaning Cold is well-conditioned athletes. Their pulses will be slower than normal without Cold being present. Victoria ______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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