pulse diagnosis (!!)

[Guest guest]

In my own pulse classes and seminars, I've moved away from having

several students feel one patient's pulse. We found that the

continual repetition of pressure by several people created both

distraction and a change of qualities, usually 'obscuring' what was

felt. Instead, I allow only one or two individuals to check one

patient's pulse, or have the students check each other. Results are

then much more consistent.

 

Secondly, I mentioned in my last pulse that Paul Unschuld translates

mai zhen as " movement in the vessels " . Diagnosing by pulse is like

putting one's fingers on a moving stream, with all the change that

implies. Especially in patients with chaotic qi, wind, or emotional

issues, the pulse qualities can transform as the contents of the

vessel move under one's fingertips. Diagnosis in Chinese medicine

can give a 'here-now' snapshot, but a longer view involving movement

and change is also part of what we do. If you feel changes in the

pulse, it may be very important in diagnosing your patient's condition.

 

 

On Aug 11, 2005, at 7:26 AM, Marnae Ergil wrote:

 

>

> I have been teaching pulse to beginners for many years now. The

> changes in

> a pulse that occur when several students feel the same pulse over a 15

> minute time period can be marked. This also happens in a clinical

> setting

> when several students feel one patients pulse. By the end, the

> pulse is

> not the same as when it was first felt. I think that this is due to

> several factors. Although the students are not practicing qi gong or

> anything else, they are interacting with another person and, often

> because

> they are students, they do not know how to manage the interaction

> of qi

> between two people. - if enough people do that over enough time,

> the pulse

> will change. Also, just the process of sitting for 15 minutes while

> inexperienced students palpate the pulse can cause changes.

>

> Would a pulse change over 15 minutes if you felt it at the

> beginning of

> that time and again at the end with no other interactions.

> Probably not as

> dramatically but somewhat. Just as a pulse will change - often

> dramatically - after 15 - 20 minutes of treatment.

>

> In general it is the finer points of the pulse that change - the

> individual

> positions or the overall depth rather than the general quality of

> the pulse.

>

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Generally I find the first minutes of taking the pulse are often off. It takes a

while for the

defensive excesses to settle down and then a more accurate reading is possible.

So I can

more often find wiry and full turning to slippery and thready than the other way

around. If

there is a huge fluctuation over a short period of time or with questioning

(best avoided)

then I see that as a deficiency.

doug

 

 

 

 

> On Aug 11, 2005, at 7:26 AM, Marnae Ergil wrote:

>

> >

> > I have been teaching pulse to beginners for many years now. The

> > changes in

> > a pulse that occur when several students feel the same pulse over a 15

> > minute time period can be marked. This also happens in a clinical

> > setting

> > when several students feel one patients pulse. By the end, the

> > pulse is

> > not the same as when it was first felt. I think that this is due to

> > several factors. Although the students are not practicing qi gong or

> > anything else, they are interacting with another person and, often

> > because

> > they are students, they do not know how to manage the interaction

> > of qi

> > between two people. - if enough people do that over enough time,

> > the pulse

> > will change. Also, just the process of sitting for 15 minutes while

> > inexperienced students palpate the pulse can cause changes.

> >

> > Would a pulse change over 15 minutes if you felt it at the

> > beginning of

> > that time and again at the end with no other interactions.

> > Probably not as

> > dramatically but somewhat. Just as a pulse will change - often

> > dramatically - after 15 - 20 minutes of treatment.

> >

> > In general it is the finer points of the pulse that change - the

> > individual

> > positions or the overall depth rather than the general quality of

> > the pulse.

> >

>

>

>

>