TCM Words Used to Describe the Pulse

PULSE	CHARACTERISTICS	CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Floating	On the surface; Superficial	Exogenous pathogenic invasion
Hollow	Floating, large, soft and empty in the middle	Blood Deficiency
Flooding	Floating and extremely large	Excess Yang
Slippery	Smooth and forceful	Phlegm accumulation; Pregnant
Rapid	More than 90 beats per minute	Heat
Rapid-Irregular	Rapid with abnormal rhythm	Obstruction of Heart blood or Qi
Wiry	Bowstring	Liver disease; Rheumatic pain
Tight	Larger and more forceful than wiry	Liver disease; Pain
Excessive	Large and long	Excess patterns
Submerged	Deep beneath the surface, close to the bone	Interior pattern
Hidden	Strong when close to the bone	Interior pattern
Leather	Submerged, excessive and long	Excess, Interior pattern

PULSE	CHARACTERISTICS	CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Thin	String-like and deficient	Deficient patterns
Minute	Extremely thin and soft	Deficient patterns
Choppy	Thin and slow with occasional skipped beats	Heart blood deficiency
Soft	Floating and thin	Deficient conditions
Frail	Extremely soft, submerged and thin	Deficient conditions
Deficient	Slow and very soft	Deficient conditions
Scattered	Large, floating and irregular	Excess, external pathogenic invasion
Moderate	Slow, floating and soft	Normal
Slow	Less than 60 beats per minute	Cold or defient patterns
Slow-irregular	Slow with occasion skipped beats	Obstruction of heart blood or qi
Consistently irregular	Skips beats at regular intervals	Obstruction of heart blood or qi
Moving	Rapid, tight and short	Fever, pain