Rough pulse

The opposite of a slippery pulse. A pulse that does not flow smoothly, felt to be like a knife lightly scratching bamboo. The rough tends to be somewhat fine, is generally slightly slower than the normal pulse. The Bīn-Hú Sphygmology (濒湖脉学 bīn hú mài xué) states, The rough pulse is fine and slow, comes with difficulty, is short and scattered, or stops and then returns, at threes and fives, like a knife lightly scratching bamboo, like rain wetting sand, or like sick silkworms eating leaves. (Note: at threes and fives, 三五不调 sān wǔ bù tiáo, means irregular; like rain wetting sand, 如雨沾沙 rú yǔ zhān shā, refers to splodgy patterns created by raindrops on a smooth sandy surface; sick silkworms eating leaves 病蚕食叶 bìng cán shí yè, refers to the fact that sick silkworms leave irregular edges on leaves after gnawing at them, as opposed to the smooth edges left by healthy silkworms.) The rough pulse is often seen in blood stasis patterns and dual vacuity of blood and qì. A forceful rough pulse indicates repletion, whereas a forceless rough pulse indicates vacuity.