Place the tips of your index and middle finger on the inside of your wrist below the base of your thumb.
Press lightly. You will feel the blood pulsing beneath your fingers.
Use a watch or clock with a second hand. Count the beats you feel for 1 minute. Or count the beats for 15 seconds and multiply by 4. This is also called your pulse rate.
The carotid arteries take oxygenated blood from the heart to the brain. The pulse from the carotids may be felt on either side of thefront of the neck just below the angle of the jaw. This rhythmic beat is caused by varying volumes of blood being pushed out of the heart toward the extremities.
Last reviewed August 23, 2022 by Thomas S. Metkus, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team..
