Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Introduction
Your heart pumps blood to your entire body several times in a single minute. Every time your heart beats, it pushes blood out of itself through something known as the aorta and into the body. Every time your heart beats, you can feel an “echo” of some sort in different parts of your body. This is known as a pulse.
Where Can You Feel a Pulse?
A pulse is a mirror of your heartbeat. Every time your heart beats, you feel a pulse in certain parts of your body, such as:
- Above your collarbone
- Beneath your jaw, beside your throat
- Your temple
- Inside your elbow
- Your wrist (at an area above your thumb)
- Your groin
- At the back of your knee
- At the ankle
- On your foot (the middle section)
How To Feel for Pulse
Choose your desired location (wrist, neck, groin, etc.)
Place the tip of your index and middle fingers firmly on the area
Apply minimal to moderate pressure.
You should feel intermittent pulsations against your fingers. The pulsation is your pulse.
What is A Pulse Rate?
Your pulse rate is the number of pulses your body generates per minute. In a healthy individual, it is equal to the heart rate (the number of times the heart beats in a minute).
How To Get Your Pulse Rate
Place the tip of your index and middle fingers firmly where your pulse is (e.g., your wrist, beneath your jaw, behind your knee, etc.)
Once you can feel the pulse, count the number of pulses you feel for an entire minute.
The number of pulses you feel in a minute is your pulse rate.
For example, if you count 72 pulses in a minute, the pulse rate is 72 beats per minute.
What Is a Normal Pulse Rate?
An adult’s normal pulse rate is between 60 to 100 beats per minute.
