How does an Ayurvedic practitioner decide on a person's dosha balance?

Practitioners seek to determine the primary dosha and the balance of doshas through questions that allow them to become very familiar with the patient. Not all questions have to do with particular symptoms. The practitioner will:

• Ask about diet, behavior, lifestyle practices, and the reasons for the most recent illness and symptoms the patient had
• Carefully observe such physical characteristics as teeth, skin, eyes, and weight
• Take a person's pulse, because each dosha is thought to make a particular kind of pulse

How else does an Ayurvedic practitioner work with the patient at first?

In addition to questioning, Ayurvedic practitioners use observation, touch, therapies, and advising. During an examination, the practitioner checks the patient's urine, stool, tongue, bodily sounds, eyes, skin, and overall appearance. He will also consider the person's digestion, diet, personal habits, and resilience (ability to recover quickly from illness or setbacks). As part of the effort to find out what is wrong, the practitioner may prescribe some type of treatment. The treatment is generally intended to restore the balance of one particular dosha. If the patient seems to improve as a result, the practitioner will provide additional treatments intended to help balance that dosha.