How to Read Your Pulse
The pulse of a pregnant women will be strong and slippery. It is usually felt more on the left side than the right. It can be very difficult to tell the difference of the pulse of a menstruating women or one who is about to be. I have heard from women who tell me their Acupuncturist thought they were pregnant and then the started their period. Easy mistake to make because they are so very simular. Even though I believe I can feel the difference, I usually caution my patients that it could go either way and not to get their hopes up until the bbt chart stays above the cover line for 18 days. I have found it is better to not get someones hopes up.
If you would like to be able to start reading your own pulse, you can. Your index finger should go in the first position, then middle finger in second and ring finger in the third. So you have to place the wrist of the left hand into the right hand and wrap your fingers around the wrist. Leave only the 3 fingers along the pulse, and just touch it lightly, then a little harder, and a little harder. This way you are feeling the pulse at the exterior level, middle, and deep level. It takes a lot of practice, but if you start doing it everyday, you will feel your pulse change.
Feeling the pulse change is very interesting. Just make sure to feel it first thing when you wake up in the morning, then again if you are rushing around, maybe when you are stressed and again when you are relaxed. This way you will soon know how your pulse really feels. Then you will be able to feel the difference of a pregnancy pulse. You will feel a rolling pulse of menstruation, or a rolling pulse of allergies.
Have more questions? Email me — katiemc@ancientartsaustin.com
Infertility 
2 comments
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November 17, 2008 at 1:37 am
Eviena
Hello Katie,
I love your blog. I am a believer of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Going for acupuncture has improved my monthly cycles tremendously. I also read the ‘The Infertility Cure’ book like a bible.
Sometime ago, my acupuncturist told me that my pulse was strong and slippery and that it was a sign of pregnancy. She even predicted from my pulse that it will be a boy. I was really excited and all but it turned out that it wasn’t accurate. I wasn’t pregnant. The slippery pulse was a sign of ‘dampness’.
Acupuncture and the herbs have proven to be effective. It has helped me in many ways, especially my overall well-being, mind and body. I totally love acupuncture. I still go to my acupuncturist whenever I could afford it.
Keep up the good writing.
November 17, 2008 at 4:11 am
marleymoot
Thank you for your comment. When I was in school the doctor I was working with told me never to tell someone they are pregnant, because there can be several reasons you find a slippery pulse. One being that you are getting ready to start your period, or as you saw — dampness.
I took that to heart, because, women coming in for iinfertility have gone through enough stress. I do like to try and determine the sex by the pulse, but I just do that for myself, write it down and keep it until the patient finds out the sex. Then we look together at what I had written down. My percentage has gotten much better over the years, but I am not always right. It takes many years of reading pulses — Hopefully it will be in my lifetime, I am a grandmother now!