What is a pulse?
Your pulse is the number of times your heart beats in one minute.
When you feel a pulse at your wrist or neck, you are feeling each beat of your heart. Counting those beats for a set amount of time tells you your heart rate.
A resting heart rate is your heart rate while you are at rest. Before you check it, sit or lie quietly and rest for at least 10 minutes first.
How to feel your pulse at your wrist
- Rest for at least 10 minutes first, so the reading is a resting one.
- Turn one hand palm-up.
- Place the index finger and middle finger of your other hand on the underside of that wrist, below the base of the thumb.
- Press lightly and feel for the pulse — a steady tapping under your fingers.
- Count the beats, using one of the counting choices below.
How to count the beats
MedlinePlus gives four ways to count. Each one gives you beats per minute:
Full minute
Count × 1 min
Count every beat for one full minute. That number is your heart rate.
30 seconds
Count × 2
Count for 30 seconds, then multiply by 2.
15 seconds
Count × 4
Count for 15 seconds, then multiply by 4.
10 seconds
Count × 6
Count for 10 seconds, then multiply by 6.
If you check the pulse in your neck
A pulse can also be felt in the neck. MedlinePlus gives two safety points for the neck method:
Take care with the neck
- Sit or lie down first before checking the pulse in your neck.
- Do not press on both sides of the neck at the same time.
Resting heart-rate ranges by age
These are the general resting heart-rate ranges published by MedlinePlus. They are general published ranges — not a diagnosis, and not a judgment about any one person.
- Newborns0 to 1 month old 70–190beats per minute
- Infants1 to 11 months old 80–160beats per minute
- Children1 to 2 years old 80–130beats per minute
- Children3 to 4 years old 80–120beats per minute
- Children5 to 6 years old 75–115beats per minute
- Children7 to 9 years old 70–110beats per minute
- Children 10 years and older, adults, and seniors10 years old and up 60–100beats per minute
- Well-trained athletes 40–60beats per minute
A number inside or outside one of these ranges does not, by itself, say that a person is healthy or unwell. This page does not interpret any individual result.
Source
Factual source for everything on this page
MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia — the article “Pulse.”
MedlinePlus is the health information service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Read the full article here:
medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003399.htm