Why Do Smartwatches Measure at the Wrist? | The 2,000-Year-Old Answer Was "Taiyuan" | A Story About How Interesting It Is to Look at the Body Through Both Western and Eastern Medicine
Every Friday is Dr. Jariban's Body Series.
This is a series where we look at the body from both Western and Eastern medicine perspectives and take home just one interesting story.
Last time, we talked about "places in the body that have 'neck' in their name."
Wrist, ankle, cervix, bladder neck.
Places with 'neck' in their name are structural weak points, and they are also where the source points (yuan-source points) in Eastern medicine gather.
We ended with the story of how Amurers couldn't quite cover their wrists.
This time is the sequel: "Blood Vessels and Pressure Points."
Arteries and source points somehow line up in the exact same places.
It's too perfect every time, and I find it mysterious.
Well then, let's get started.
🤔 Arteries hide, pressure points emerge
First, a fact that surprised me when I learned it.
The human body routes thick arteries as deep and far inside as possible.
That's because if they are severed, it's a matter of life and death.
The subclavian artery and the femoral artery are also carefully hidden behind bones and muscles.
However, there are a very few exceptions.
There are only a few places where arteries crawl over bones and come right up under the skin.
Side of the neck (carotid artery)
Front of the elbow (brachial artery)
Thumb side of the wrist (radial artery)
Inside of the ankle (posterior tibial artery)
Top of the foot (dorsalis pedis artery)
And now, here is the main topic for today.
These locations usually have famous acupuncture points.
Specifically, the 'Yuan-Source point' which is the representative point of the 12 meridians.
It is too perfect to be a coincidence.
Today, I will focus on just one of these locations: the wrist.
🦴 The 'Radial Artery' from the perspective of Western medicine
Running just beneath the skin on the thumb side of the wrist is the 'radial artery'.
Doctors grasp a patient's wrist to check the pulse of this radial artery.
Taking it a step further, you can even get a rough idea of blood pressure just from this spot.
Palpatory blood pressure measurement is a classic technique.
You wrap a cuff around the upper arm, inflate it, and use your fingers to read the pressure at which the radial artery pulse disappears and reappears.
Before stethoscopes became widespread, doctors estimated blood pressure using only the sensation in their fingers.
In emergency medicine, whether or not the radial artery can be felt is still used as an important indicator.
If the radial artery pulse can be felt, the systolic blood pressure is generally 80 mmHg or higher.
It serves as evidence to determine that the patient is at least not in a state of severe shock.
With just one artery, you can tell the pulse rate, rhythm, blood pressure, and even the body's remaining vitality.
I often touch people's wrists with my fingers instead of looking with my eyes.
Every time I do, I think, 'the wrist is the place where the body speaks the most.'
🌿 'Taiyuan' from the Perspective of Eastern Medicine
In Eastern medicine, there is also a famous acupoint located exactly above this radial artery.
Its name is 'Taiyuan'.
The meaning of the characters is as follows.
Tai... Greatly
Yuan... A deep, clear pool of water, a place where many things gather
'The Great Abyss'.
It evokes the image of a spring where Qi and blood gather deeply.
Furthermore, Taiyuan holds several special titles among acupoints.
Source point of the Lung Meridian (a place where vital energy gathers)
One of the Eight Influential Points, the 'Meeting Point of Vessels'
This 'Meeting Point of Vessels' is the core of today's topic.
In the classic Eastern medical text 'Nan Jing' (Classic of Difficult Issues), there is a passage stating, 'The vessels meet at Taiyuan'.
This means that all the vessels of the entire body gather at this single point called Taiyuan.
Thousands of years ago, people in the East would take the pulse of the radial artery with their fingers.
And they designated that spot as the 'representative point where the body's pulses gather'.
It is exactly the same place that Western medicine has recognized as the 'one point where even blood pressure can be read'.
⌚ Why do smartwatches measure at the wrist?
Here, we will jump forward in time.
In the Reiwa era, people have smartwatches on their wrists.
That tiny device is measuring an incredible amount of data every second.
Pulse
Heart rhythm (ECG)
Blood oxygen saturation
Skin temperature
Heart rate variability during sleep
The human body has several much larger arteries.
The common carotid artery is close to the heart and has a strong pulse.
The femoral artery is thick and easy to measure.
Yet, manufacturers around the world have all chosen the 'wrist'.
Why?
When you list the reasons, they are almost identical to why Eastern medicine chose Taiyuan.
The bone pushes the artery toward the skin, stabilizing sensor pressure
The skin is thin, making it easy for optical sensors to reach
A position that doesn't get in the way even when worn all day
A place where the wearer can forget they are even wearing it
Thousands of years ago, Eastern medicine decided, based solely on the sensation of the fingers, that 'the pulse of the entire body gathers here'.
And now, in the Reiwa era, the latest technology has chosen the same spot and continues to measure it every second.
Even after thousands of years, humanity is still fiddling with the same wrist.
🔥 If you only do one thing today
To those who have read this far, here is a small gift.
Try this tonight before you go to sleep.
First, turn your palm upward.
Can you feel the small bony protrusion on the thumb side of your wrist?
This is the 'radial styloid process'.
It is the easiest landmark to find on the wrist.
If you bend your wrist slightly inward, several horizontal creases will appear on the palm side.
Right where those creases disappear on the thumb side, just below the styloid process (on the palm side).
Place your index and middle fingers of your opposite hand together and gently press them there.
Thump, thump.
That is the radial artery. And that is Taiyuan.
It is especially easy to feel while in the bath.
It is the spot that smartwatches measure every second, and what Eastern medicine calls the 'fountain where the pulses of the whole body gather'.
Just feel it for one minute.
That is all you need to do.
Just realizing that this is such an important place will change how you treat your wrists starting tomorrow.
Don't let air conditioning blow directly on them.
Pull your sleeves down.
Don't carry heavy bags with one hand for too long.
Just doing that will make your wrists feel a little different tomorrow.
🔭 Next Episode Preview
One artery and one acupoint on the wrist.
Eastern medicine calls it the 'fountain where pulses gather,' and Western medicine recognizes it as 'a single point where even blood pressure can be read.'
In different eras and with different vocabularies, they are pointing to the same place.
Next time.
Previously, there was an episode where I covered Matsuo Basho and 'Zusanli' together.
I will invite a historical figure as a guest once again, someone whose name every Japanese person has heard, just as much as that one.
Western medicine and Eastern medicine intersect perfectly at a certain moment in that person's life.
The hint is that famous 'book'.
Have a great weekend.
*This article introduces the concepts of Western and Eastern medicine and is not intended for medical diagnosis or treatment. If you have persistent pain or discomfort, please consult a medical institution.
📎 Please also check out these articles when you have time
This series is a weekly column where you take home just one discovery: that 'Western and Eastern medicine were pointing to the same place using different languages.'
If you like, please take a look at these three articles that are continuous with this one.
As the previous installment to this article, in Various 'Necks' and Acupoints | A Story About How Interesting It Is to Look at the Body Through Both Western and Eastern Medicine, I covered why places with 'neck' in their name—such as the wrist, ankle, cervix, and bladder neck—are both structural weak points and places where acupoints gather.
It serves as the foundation for this 'story focused solely on the wrist.'
The most read episode in the series is A Body That Walks 12 Kilometers and 'Zusanli' | A Story About How Interesting It Is to Look at the Body Through Both Western and Eastern Medicine.
I covered Matsuo Basho and Zusanli together.
I would be happy if you could return to this episode once more before the 'reappearance of that person' mentioned in the next episode preview.
The episode where I did a story with the same structure as this one—where the radial artery and Taiyuan point to the same wrist—but using the stomach and gut bacteria is 'Mottainai' Was Known by the Stomach | Matsuo Basho and Gut Bacteria Were Pointing to the Same Place | A Story About How Interesting It Is to Look at the Body Through Both Western and Eastern Medicine.
For those who love the moment when the West and the East arrive at the same place using different vocabularies.
🎬 A video created by an invisible video creator
The perspective of connecting 2,000-year-old pulse diagnosis with modern smartwatches on a single wrist, and the production approach of visualizing an invisible world using AI.
Both share the same sense of 're-perceiving the body and the world by crossing boundaries.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH1r1bG4ypM
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