What is the cause for over-active pulsation?
Professor of Medicine,
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA
Q: I have a strange problem which I would like to share with you. The other day my nephew pulled my left cheek and after some time my pulse appeared on my cheek i.e. the heart beat became visible on my face and a little swelling appeared on the left cheek. It subsided when I massaged my cheek for 10-15 minutes. Since that time this problem appears, if I touch my cheek or rub my face with towel after washing it.
A:An abnormal or over-active pulsation could be caused by three types of problem:1. Aortic valve disease2. Hypertension3. A local fistula between the artery and veinA medical examination is needed to make the diagnosis. In some cases the problem may be psychological fixation on an essentially normal manifestation of the pulse whose beat quality varies in different parts of the body.