The pulse: The names are combinations

Wiry

It feels straight and taut from one end of the finger to the other, like plucking a tight string. It is the Liver's pulse and the pulse of everything held in: pain, tension, stagnation.

Sensation

taut, straight, not yielding to the finger

Pictures

qi stagnation, pain, Liver pathology

Where it shows most

often in the left middle position

Confused with

a wide, forceful pulse

Common mistake: Calling any strong pulse «wiry». What defines it is sustained tension, not power.

Slippery

It slides under the finger, rounded and fluid, like a bead rolling. It indicates something abundant and moving: damp, phlegm, retained food… and also pregnancy.

Sensation

round, fluid, it escapes

Pictures

damp, phlegm, food retention

Physiological

in pregnancy it is normal and expected

Combined with fast

phlegm with heat

Common mistake: Interpreting a slippery pulse in a woman of childbearing age without first asking about the possibility of pregnancy.

Thin and choppy

Two pulses of scarcity that get confused. Thin is a continuous, well-defined thread; choppy comes and goes, scrapes and does not flow. One says something is missing, the other that it is not circulating.

Thin

blood or yin deficiency

Choppy

blood stasis or a large deficiency

Key difference

thin is regular; choppy is irregular and rough

What to add

check the tongue to separate them

Common mistake: Writing «weak» and nothing else. Thin and choppy lead to different treatments and that one word erases both.

Derive the name from the axes.

• A recent exterior picture with feverSuperficial and forcefulDeep, slow and forcefulThin, fast and forcelessDeep and forceless
• Internal excess cold with abdominal painSuperficial and forcefulDeep, slow and forcefulThin, fast and forcelessDeep and forceless
• Long-standing yin deficiencySuperficial and forcefulDeep, slow and forcefulThin, fast and forcelessDeep and forceless
• Yang deficiency with coldness and fatigueSuperficial and forcefulDeep, slow and forcefulThin, fast and forcelessDeep and forceless
• Pain that improves with a hot water bottleSuperficial and forcefulDeep, slow and forcefulThin, fast and forcelessDeep and forceless
• Deep fatigue with no heat sign at allSuperficial and forcefulDeep, slow and forcefulThin, fast and forcelessDeep and forceless

You feel a taut, straight, forceful pulse in someone with temporal headache and irritability. What do you call it and what does it add?

1. Slippery: there is damp
2. Thin: blood is short
3. Wiry: it confirms the stagnation and the Liver's involvement

Match each pulse with its most typical picture.