why would a person have a pulse in only one arm part of the time?

Answer 1

When I do an assessment of a patient in the ICU it's generally a full head to toe run down. I check for 6 to 8 pulse points to gage circulation. The carotids are on both sides of the neck. "Just making sure you've got blood going to your brain", I tell them. Next is both left and right radial arteries which are at points on the wrist just below the thumb. I'm guessing this is where you're having the challenge. There can be a lot of reasons why you wouldn't feel one. Be very worried about it if the wrist you can't feel the pulse on is significantly cooler than the other. That means there is some kind of arterial blockage and that needs attention right away. Is it positional...can you move your arm around and be able to feel it then? What about feeling inside your upper arm (against the bone) when you can't feel it in your wrist to see if you can find it further up?

After that I check feet (usually the tops-doralis pedis). Where I work in the hospital that is very important. There are two sites in the groin at the top of the legs with very strong pulses indicating circulation from the great arteries. We use these quite a bit because of accessing these vessels for studies and treatments. Looks like someone here already experienced that. Not as freaky as it sounds.

I hope this helps. Jeff the nurse in Nashville

Answer 2

Sometimes the pulse in the other arm is just harder to find; of course I'm assuming that you are the one and that you don't have any medical training. I've found that it's a whole bunch easier to find the pulse in the neck. I had a medical student take my pulse on the side of my thigh, very, very close to my groin area. (There was another couple students and an actual doctor in the room as well, so I don't think that he was just being freaky.)

Does that help you? Hope so.