Listening to the Voice

Speaking Voice: Generally, speaking in a loud and sonorous voice indicates syndromes of heat or shi type, while a feeble, low voice indicates syndromes of the cold or xu type.

Disordered Speaking: Speaking incoherently and loudly or deliriously indicates shi syndrome. Speaking verbosely, feebly, and intermittently indicates syndromes of the xu type. Muttering to oneself denotes qi deficiency of the heart. Stuttering speech suggests upward disturbance of wind-phlegm.

Listening to the Respiration

Feeble Breathing: Feeble breathing accompanied by shortness of breath usually indicates xu syndromes.

Coarse Breathing: Forceful breathing with a coarse voice belongs to the shi heat type syndromes. Asthma with feeble, short breathing is a category of xu type asthma.

Listening to the Cough

Course coughing usually indicates shi type syndromes. A low cough with weak breathing indicates xu syndromes.

Smelling

Foul breath is due to pathogenic heat in the stomach, indigestion, caries, and an unclean mouth. Sour breath indicates food accumulation in the stomach.

The offensive smell of a secretion or excretion including stool, urine, sputum, pus, leukorrhea, etc., usually indicates heat syndromes of the shi type. A stinking smell usually indicates cold syndromes of the xu type.

Palpation

Palpation is a method of diagnosis using the hand to touch, feel, and press certain areas of the body to ascertain the patient's disease condition. Generally there are two types: Pulse Feeling and Body Palpation.