I didn't know about wearing it on my left wrist! Thank you for that tip. Why don't they take pulse readings from the right, does anybody know?
Hi, it could be because more people are right handed. It doesn't matter which wrist is used.
Take the wrist pulse for an easy way to monitor heart rate.
Arteries run closely under the skin at the wrist and neck, making the pulse particularly easy to find at these points.
Here are the simple steps needed to take a pulse at the wrist (radial pulse):2,3
- Turn one of your hands over so it is palm-side up
- Use your other hand to place two fingertips gently in the groove on the forearm, down from the fold of the wrist and about an inch along from the base of your thumb
- When you have the position right, you should feel the pulsation of your heart beat.
Use whichever arm is easiest - a right arm pulse is being felt in the picture here; left arm in the first picture.
You can also find the pulse on the neck, by placing two fingers in the same way, gently pressing into the soft groove on either side of the windpipe (trachea).
This is the pulse running through one of the carotid arteries - the main arteries that run up the neck to the head from the heart.
Less easy places to find a pulse are:
- Behind the knees
- On the inside of an elbow when the arm is outstretched
- In the groin
- At the temple on the side of the head
- On the top or the inner side of the foot.
The video below is presented by a nurse explaining how to take a pulse - this can be followed for your own pulse or for taking someone else's in the same way.
How to record a pulse reading
Once you have found a pulse by following the steps above, hold still and:2,3
- Use a timepiece or watch with a second hand, or look at a clock with a second hand
- Over the course of a minute or 30 seconds, count the number of beats felt
- The number of pulses over a minute is the standard heart rate measurement, which can also be reached by doubling the number of pulses felt over a half minut
Written by
Markus MacGill
Article last updated on Wed 9 December 2015.