Diagnostic Method of TCM

The four diagnostic methods include:

Looking: It is to observe the patient's vitality, complexion, body build, posture and tongue characteristic to know the pathological changes of the internal organs.

Listening and smelling: It is to listen to the patient's voice, speech, breathing and smell odor to identify the patterns of deficiency, excess, heat and cold.

Asking: It is to inquire the patient's complaints, history of recent illness, family disease history, quality of pain, life style, food intake, disease course and treatment.

Pulse-taking and palpation: This is a method to know the disease condition by taking the pulse at the superficial part of the radial artery to know the function of the internal organs. Palpation is a diagnostic method adopted by a physician to touch or press certain parts of a patient's body so that he can detect the local conditions.

In clinical treatment, the practitioners combine the four methods to make diagnosis.

Portions of this article were adapted from research materials originally published on the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine website.