Characteristics of the Palm Prints and Palm Creases According to Sasang Constitutional Types

사상체질 유형에 따른 손바닥문, 손금의 특징

In Sasang constitutional medicine, the classification of Sasang constitutional types (Tae-Yang, Tae-Eum, So-Yang, and So-Eum) is important for the treatment. There are some problems with the methods used for classifying Sasang constitutional types; old methods such as pulse-palpation are not considered objective and recent methods such as immunohematology are considered expensive, painful and time-consuming. To overcome these problems, a body measurement and finger prints analysis were performed. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the palm prints and the palm creases could be helpful in classifying Sasang constitutional types. Thus, we looked for characteristics of the palm prints and the palm creases according to Sasang constitutional types. Before analyzing the palm prints and palm creases, 760 Korean (465 males, 295 females) were surveyed using two kinds of questionnaires for classifying Sasang constitutional types. As there were no Tae-Yang individuals, we were only able to identify the characteristics of the palm prints and the palm creases for Tae-Eum (288 persons), So-Yang (193 persons), and So-Eum (279 persons) individuals. In this study, the terminal points of D, closed crease, and open crease seemed to be helpful in classifying Tae-Eum and So-Eum individuals. Terminal point 11 and closed crease were frequent in Tae-Eum individuals; whereas, terminal point 7 and open crease were frequent in So-Eum individuals. Therefore, the palm prints and the palm creases seem to contribute to the classification of Sasang constitutional types.