1) The contraction of the heart generates a pulsating pressure, akin to a wave, pushing blood out of the heart. This pulsation is what you feel as the pulse. However, this pressure is not constant.
2) During systole, when the heart pumps blood, the arteries experience maximum pressure. As this pressure diminishes in capillaries and veins, which are further from the heart, veins employ valves to prevent blood backflow due to the lower pressure.
3) Arterial pressure is noticeable with every heartbeat, especially in arteries near the body’s surface, like those in the wrist and neck, but veins do not exhibit this pulsation.
4) Veins consistently maintain weaker pressure compared to arteries, resulting in a fainter pulse, often undetectable by touch alone.
5) Consequently, when placing a finger on the arteries of the wrist or neck, a pulse is felt, unlike when doing the same on a vein.