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Modern medical technology is extremely advanced in such a way that every part of a human body can be imaged and every physiological chemistry parameters can be measured, via diagnostic instruments of one type or another. Through the eyes of electron microscopes, even individual atoms can be seen. In light of such advanced technologies, why do we still need to take pulses?

As any practitioner or student of acupuncture would know, physical matters can be detected by instruments but the channels and acupuncture points cannot be detected by any instruments. 

On a daily basis, I encounter patients who tells me that he or she feels discomfort all over his/her body and yet all tests done at the hospital show no abnormality. In such situations, pulse-taking can diagnose the disease that is caused by yin-yang imbalances.

In addition, traditional Chinese Medicine’s approach to diagnosis and treatment is based on “syndrome or symptom differentiation” and “prescribing herbs or needling based on the syndrome”, meaning that Chinese Medicine practitioners diagnose and treat based on the signs or symptoms. In the reality of practicing medicine, symptoms or signs might not be readily visible or apparent. There are many such situations:

1. The disease might have not visible symptoms, such as hepatitis, kidney diseases, diabetes, or even cancer. In such situations, patients are not able to articulate the symptoms.

2. The patient can only provide a vague or general description, such as “lower back pain”, regardless of how many times the practitioner asks the patient to be more specific about the locations of the discomfort. As there are many causes for lower back pain, including bone spur, bulging of intervertebral disc, arthritis, cyst, gynecological tumor, lithiasis, etc. In these cases, diagnosis through inquiring either cannot identify the root cause of the disease, or would be time-consuming.

3. The patient has many discomforts or problems, such as headache, back pain, shoulder pain, stomachache, menstrual pains, fatigue, emotional problems, diabetes, insomnia, etc. but does not provide any information to the practitioner. Instead, the patient wants the practitioner to diagnose the illness(es) or disease(s), as a “test” of the practitioner’s skill. In such a situation, if the practitioner continues to inquire about the problem(s), the patient would conclude that the practitioner is incompetent and would lose confidence in the practitioner. Again, diagnosis through inquiring would fail to determine the source/cause of the illness.

Based on my 45 years of clinical experience and understanding of the culture of Chinese medicine, I know of no techniques other than pulse-taking that can gain a deeper understanding of the cause of the disease and to instill confidence in the patients about the treatment.

Jimmy Wei-Yen Chang, L.Ac.

Doctor of Chinese Medicine

Licensed in Taiwan, NY, CA, NCCAOM

Founder of Chang’s Pulse Diagnosis

Author of Pulsynergy

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