Why have I never noticed this before? I accidentally heard my cat's heartbeat, and realised it was in pairs. So I thought, do you count all of them singly, or the number of pairs? Wikipedia suggests it's pairs, judging by the 72bpm heart rate sound on this page which is actually 144bpm:
Maybe when you take a pulse you only feel one of each pair (not that I've ever been able to find my or anyone else's pulse, I've always listened with my ear).
There are 2 valves hence they describe the sound as Lub-dub, one valve opens to push blood to wherever and the other closes. I suspect the pulse is the pushing part as the blood surges around the body.
How do you find your own pulse?
Prick.
Prick.
Press three fingers into the inside of the other wrist on the thumb side. (Don't use your thumb as that has a pulse of its own.)
I don't think it would matter if he felt his thumb pulse instead of his radial artery pulse. Or do you suppose he needs to learn the proper technique for feeling others' pulses?
Grasp your neck firmly like you are trying to choke yourself. If you can't find the pulse in your carotids you're dead.
The easy way is to download the free "accurate heart rate" app off play and put you finger over the camera on your phone.
failing that the pulse in the neck is easy.
On 09-Feb-18 9:17 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote: ..
I use the reading from either my blood pressure monitor or my oxymeter.
He might, one day.
I can never do that, on myself at any rate.
I'm amused when people in TV dramas do it to tell (immediately) whether a person is dead. I don't see how you can be sure you have your fingers in the right place or the person's artery isn't deep, or the pulse weak.
Wrist is better.
Nope, can't feel a pulse at all. I can sometimes feel a pulse in my neck, from my neck, without using fingers, if I've just been running fast, otherwise it's not detectable from the outside.
I have the first one of those. All it tells me is my pressure is dangerously high and that no medication (not even 4 at once, full dosage) will bring it anywhere near "normal". Who gets to say what the right pressure is anyway?
The people who analyse the statistics and work out what the pressures indicate in terms of increased risk of disease.
On 02/10/2018 07:28 AM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote: [snip]
Sometimes I do to, the first time I noticed that was after climbing a steep hill on a hot day.
Nightjar presented the following explanation :
High BP can cause strokes, burst blood vessels in your eyes, loss of sight plus other issues.
Why would the hot day make you beat faster?
But what is high? Higher than average? How can they know what the safe limits are?
About a quarter of people have high BP, so clearly they haven't a clue.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required