Some people know when they are going to faint because they have symptoms beforehand, such as feeling weak, nauseated, hot or dizzy. After they regain consciousness, they may feel confused, dizzy or ill for a while but recover fairly soon. A person who faints usually will not suffer any long-term health effects.
Fainting usually happens suddenly. Symptoms can include: dizziness. cold skin and sweating.
Feeling faint is known as presyncope. This causes the feeling of lightheadedness with the sensation that you'll pass out without actually losing consciousness, or syncope. Warning symptoms, such as feeling warm and sweaty, blurred vision or seeing stars, racing heart and feeling weak often precede the faint feeling.
Most people will recover quickly after fainting once they lie down as more blood flows to the brain. It also helps to loosen any constrictive clothing. After they wake up, have them stay lying down or sitting for a while longer until they're feeling better.
Most fainting will pass quickly and won't be serious. Usually, a fainting episode will only last a few seconds, although it will make the person feel unwell and recovery may take several minutes. If a person doesn't recover quickly, always seek urgent medical attention.
“If you feel these symptoms, lay down or sit down and do not get up until you feel your body has returned to normal,” he says. Also, be sure to drink lots of water.
Fainting is a temporary loss of consciousness.
After four to five seconds, you lose consciousness, stop breathing and have no pulse.
Fainting can be a scary event for everyone involved. According to emergency room physician Troy Madsen, MD, 99 percent of the time, there are no serious health concerns. But if you're around when someone hits the floor, how should you respond? Learn the facts about fainting and what you can do when it happens.
A blackout is a loss of memory. Fainting, also called passing out, is a loss of consciousness.
For most people, syncope occurs once in a great while, if ever, and is not a sign of serious illness. However in others, syncope can be the first and only warning sign prior to an episode of sudden cardiac death. Syncope can also lead to serious injury. Talk to your physician if syncope happens more often.
If someone else faints
To reduce the chance of fainting again, don't get the person up too fast. If the person doesn't regain consciousness within one minute, call 911 or your local emergency number.
Fainting usually is caused by a temporary drop in blood pressure. During that brief drop, the brain does not get the blood flow that it needs—and you lose consciousness.
In an otherwise healthy person, fainting may not be cause for alarm. But in rare cases, it can be a sign of a serious underlying health condition. Syncope is usually caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure or heart rate that causes decreased blood flow to the brain.
Feeling ill and nauseous after a faint is very common, and is part of the digestive “vagal” activation, which often also makes you feel washed out for a time after a faint. Why this fainting reaction happens more often to some people than to other is unknown.
People who have certain medical conditions are more likely to faint. These conditions include: Heart problems (irregular heartbeat or blockages in or near the heart that prevent the blood from getting to the brain) Diabetes.
Being asleep is not the same as being unconscious. A sleeping person will respond to loud noises or gentle shaking. An unconscious person will not.
If possible, lie down.
This can help prevent a fainting episode, as it lets blood get to the brain, especially if the feet are propped up a bit. Be sure to stand up again slowly when you feel better — move to a sitting position for several minutes first, then to standing.
If you pass out, you'll likely become conscious and alert after a few seconds or minutes. However, you may feel confused or tired for a bit. You can recover fully in minutes or hours.
Most often, there is a warning prodrome, consisting of nausea, sweating, pallor, feeling of warmth, tingling of extremities, “graying out” and/or tunnel vision. This prodrome usually affords the patient a warning, allowing time to brace for a fall, thereby preventing serious injury.
Convulsive syncope is characterized by small jerking motions after passing out with spontaneous and complete recovery. This occurs because of a decreased blood flow to your brain, resulting in this seizure-like reaction. Vasovagal syncope is the most common type of syncope.
If you don't replace the water you lose, you can become dehydrated. Dehydration leads to fainting spells by reducing your circulating blood volume, making it harder for the body to deliver adequate blood to your vital organs including your brain.
Fainting is a brief loss of consciousness. It can last from seconds to 30 minutes. Just before fainting, a person may feel a sense of dread, feel dizzy, see spots, and have nausea.
Depending on the cause of your fainting spell, you may have some or all of these symptoms before or during the episode: Dizziness. Weakness. Sweating.