What Is TCM Diagnosis? How Do You Assess My Health?

The Four Examinations

Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnosis does not rely on blood tests or imaging — it uses four classical examination methods that have been refined over millennia. Each provides different information about the state of the internal organs, the quality of Qi and Blood, and the presence of pathogenic factors.

Looking (Wang): The practitioner observes your tongue (the most diagnostically important aspect of tongue inspection covers colour, shape, and coating), complexion, eyes, and posture. A pale tongue suggests Blood deficiency; a red tongue suggests Heat; a thick yellow coat suggests Damp-Heat in the digestive system.

Pulse Diagnosis

Pulse palpation in TCM is a sophisticated diagnostic art. The practitioner feels the pulse at three positions on each wrist, at three depths — producing eighteen distinct positions that each correspond to a specific organ system. The rate, strength, quality, depth, and rhythm of the pulse at each position are assessed, providing information that is unavailable through any other means.

Common pulse qualities include: wiry (Liver tension or pain), slippery (phlegm or pregnancy), deficient (weakness or deficiency), rapid (heat), slow (cold), and floating (external pathogen or deficiency with false excess at the surface).