Not to be confused with palm reading (aka palmistry), tarot cards, and gypsy witchcraft, the ancient art of TCM hand diagnosis doesn’t tell your future; it tells your health status, deficiencies in your vital energy, and organs (if any), and even possibly symptoms of certain cardiovascular or chronic illnesses, such as cancer.

TCM Hand Diagnosis – not to be confused with palm reading

More than 2,000 years ago, ancient Chinese medicine practitioners used pulse diagnosis to examine human health conditions. Today, after the development of Western Medicine, this ancient medical technique is gradually losing popularity among the millennials and younger generation.

The Yellow Emperor’s Nan Jing: Classic of Questioning  (《黄帝八十一难经》) states, “Those who can diagnose accurately through solely observing is seen as God; through solely smelling and listening is seen as saints; through solely inquiring is seen as a master; through pulse taking would be known as an expert. (translated from: “经言望而知之谓之神，闻而知之谓之圣，问而知之谓之工，切脉而知之谓之巧”)

Modern TCM’s Current Situation

Unfortunately, influenced by modern Western medicine, some TCM physicians are less capable of fully administering a pulse diagnosis, and use Western medicine consultation methods instead to prescribe the medicine.

As such, the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine is greatly reduced.

As for diagnosis through purely visual observation, many years of experience are required to just achieve 80-90% of accuracy due to its high difficulty level.

Purpose and Benefit of Pulse Diagnosis

Through TCM pulse diagnosis, experienced TCM physicians can quickly determine the health & status of the internal organs of the human body (五脏六腑).

Even if the patient does not have any discomfort at the moment, when the pulse condition is abnormal, it means that the patient might have a chance of developing certain illnesses in the future.

If treated on time or even earlier, it can prevent the symptoms from worsening or developing into chronic illnesses.

What is Hand Diagnosis?

“Stretch out your hand and we will know what is wrong.”

TCM hand diagnosis can determine the physiological and pathological states of the internal organs of the human body with the help of the texture, wrinkles patterns, and color of the hands. 

It can also diagnose more than 100 common diseases and frequently-occurring diseases, including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and some cancers at the early stage.

If you can combine Chinese with Western medicine treatment, and adjust habits and diets accordingly, it is possible to prevent dire consequences from the escalation of most illnesses.

Purpose of TCM’s Existence

Some people may say: “The diagnostic technology of western medicine has reached the molecular level, why do we still need such primitive, superstitious, and backward diagnostic methods like TCM pulse and hand diagnosis?”

Maybe you have heard of Kirlian photography, more commonly known as “electrophotography”, or “aura photography”. There is an invisible energy field around everything, for example, a leaf in its budding state, the aura photo can show the outline after it has grown.

The same applies to the human body, the images show a life force or energy field which can reflect the physical and emotional states of living things. 

Before illnesses occur and fully develop, they tend to be reflected in the pulse and the hand. This is the tangible manifestation of the invisible energy field of the disease.

At moments when the disease has yet to develop symptoms in the human body, even the most advanced medical devices have no way to detect changes in the invisible energy field.

This is when pulse and hand diagnosis stands to play a key role in early detection.

Try DIY Hand Diagnosis Yourself

• Look at your palm right now, do you see any dark veins anywhere?

The darker it is, the more severe the stagnation, the more negative cold energy you hold in that area and it is a telling sign of the type of deficiency causing the cold. So if you have any dark blue black purple things that are that indicate that you have a cold & deficiency.

• Next look for veins and discoloration.

For example, if a certain /; area of the palm is redder than the rest of the palm in general. Or if an area is yellower, paler, or whiter than the rest of the palm, these are causes for concern.

The most worrying indication to take note of is if there are dark, purplish, or dull areas.

In general, white areas indicate inflammation in the body. Blue, purplish areas indicate obstruction & stagnation. A yellow palm usually indicates chronic disease, while greenish colors indicate digestive problems. Red areas indicate Vitamin C deficiency.

• Lastly, also compare the areas of discoloration you noticed to this chart below…

And ask yourself if you’ve been noticing any symptoms about that particular organ lately. If so, a health check-up sometime soon might be a good idea.

The Importance of Consulting Your Practitioner

The above is just an introductory step to hand diagnosis, if you suspect you might have discolorations worth looking into, we encourage you to engage our professional physicians for a proper TCM pulse and hand diagnosis today at Sin Kang TCM: https://sinkangtcm.com.sg/contact-us/

(references: Master Tung Palm Diagnosis Summary by Tina Chen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp5OTEbBG8Q )