Deficient Pulse / Xu Mai
Updated 2026-08-02
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
A pulse pattern in traditional Chinese medicine diagnostics. The pulse feels forceless when lifted and hollow when pressed, likened to pressing a soft steamed bun or a balloon. It signals a deficiency pattern: insufficient qi, blood, yin, or yang, with vessels underfilled and internal pressure low. Because the body is already depleted, purging therapies such as emesis and purgation are contraindicated and treatment must tonify. It is a standard deficiency pulse and must be distinguished from the excess pulse and the hollow pulse.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Empty inventory: read low pressure and a slack vessel as depletion rather than blockage. - Treatment direction: rule out purging and choose tonification when the pulse gives way under pressure. - Differentiation: compare with the excess and hollow pulses before settling on a pattern.
Anchor fast decisions
A vessel that gives way under the finger carries less filling and less pressure than a healthy one, which points to a shortage of the substances that generate the pulse rather than to an obstruction. Because nothing is blocked, pushing harder only drains a system that already lacks reserves, so the correct move is to add rather than to clear.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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- baike.baidu.comhttps://baike.baidu.com/view/378905.htmverified
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