Chinese pulse diagnosis

Posted by DAAN on October 25, 2008 under East and West, General |

A very interesting article about Chinese pulse diagnosis and how it is becoming more popular:

Two thousand years ago, during the Han Dynasty, everyone from rulers to peasants paid doctors to keep them healthy with the pulse diagnosis and treatments first described in the Nei Jing (”inner classic”) circa 100 BCE. Eastern medicine, like Eastern philosophy, has always subscribed to the idea that the whole is found in its parts. In China, this is the basis of therapies like foot reflexology, tongue reading (in which the tongue’s colour, texture and markings are attributed to conditions in the body) and pulse diagnosis. Acupuncturists trained in this subtle method say you can tell the condition of every body function by feeling the rhythm and qualities of the pulse at different positions on the wrist.

The spot on your right wrist at the base of your thumb, for example, reveals something — though not everything — about your lungs, especially their condition in the past. If a student of Chinese medicine feels a narrowing there, your lungs aren’t expanding enough. If it feels slippery — like pebbles rolling on a plate — it may indicate evidence of a bacterial infection, past or present. And if it feels choppy — like scraping bamboo with a knife — there’s probably some toxicity.

Typically, a doctor of Chinese medicine uses other tools of the trade, like tongue diagnosis, alongside pulse readings. Treatment involves regular stints on a massage table, with needles inserted anywhere from your eyebrows to the balls of your feet, and tonics brewed from herbs to strengthen the body’s healing process. Western medicines and medical techniques are also suggested when appropriate.

Historically, these techniques attracted little attention in the West. But during the Communist takeover of China after World War II, some Chinese masters fled to the U.S. and Europe. One of these was John Shen, and Hammer knew when their paths crossed in 1974 that he’d found his teacher. For eight years, he spent weekends with the acupuncturist at his practise in New York City. There, he learned to lay his fingers on the wrist in 28 positions, varying the pressure to feel some 80 pulse qualities.