What makes a girl faint. On the classification of syncope. Consider the most common types of syncope: neurogenic, cardiogenic, hyperventilatory

Fainting is a temporary loss of consciousness that occurs as a reaction to insufficient blood flow to the brain. It usually manifests itself in the form of confusion, blackouts in the eyes, or even a very brief loss of consciousness. This condition usually lasts from a couple of seconds to several minutes and goes away without any help as soon as the blood supply to the brain returns to normal.

Fainting is not a disease, more often it is a symptom of the disease. But sometimes fainting does not indicate an illness at all and is a reaction to unfavourable conditions. Since almost no one is immune from fainting, it is important that as much as possible more people knew what it was and how to help a person with a faint.

Causes of fainting

There are many reasons that cause a decrease in blood flow to the brain. Sometimes fainting can be associated with heart disease, but more often it is caused by other causes. If the oxygen supply to the brain drops to a critical point, it decides to “temporarily shut down” the body to protect itself from damage. As soon as the body falls or takes horizontal position, this most often leads to an improvement in the flow of blood to the brain, and, therefore, to an improvement in the supply of oxygen.

There are a lot of causes of fainting, but most often fainting is caused by problems with the autonomic nervous system.

What usually leads to a reduction in the supply of oxygen to the brain and causes fainting? There are many such reasons:

Problems in the functioning of the autonomic nervous system, which leads to malfunctions in the regulation of vascular contractility (approximately 50% of all syncope).
Heart disease (25%).
Vascular disorders, for example, atherosclerotic deposits in the vessels supplying blood to the brain, strokes, transient ischemic attacks.
Sharp rise intracranial pressure, which can be caused by a tumor, hemorrhage, or hydrocephalus.
A significant decrease in the amount of oxygen, electrolytes or sugar in the blood, which can be caused by hypoxia, hypoglycemia, and liver and kidney failure.
A decrease in the volume of blood in the body, which can be caused by both bleeding and dehydration.
Poisoning.
Psychiatric disorders such as hyperventilation syndrome or hysteria.
In addition, fainting may be caused infectious diseases, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy and some other reasons.

Most often, fainting occurs in adolescents and young people, and does not pose a significant threat to their health. For most of them, fainting passes with time, it is important to keep healthy lifestyle life, sleep and eat right.

Syncope symptoms

Sometimes, when fainting, consciousness turns off suddenly and the person does not have time to notice anything, but in most cases it is preceded by a fainting state. If on this stage try to relax and take a horizontal position, then fainting can often be avoided.

If you know the approach of fainting, it can easily be avoided.

How to recognize the pre-fainting state? It is usually characterized by the following features:

weakness,
darkening in the eyes
yawn,
noise in ears,
dizziness,
limb numbness,
pallor,
sweating.

Most often, fainting begins in a standing position. Sometimes standing in a stuffy room for a long time can cause fainting.

During the fainting itself, in addition to loss of consciousness, you can notice symptoms such as:

sharp blanching of the skin on the face;
sweating of the skin;
cold extremities;
slowing and weakening of the pulse on the hands with a satisfactory pulse on the carotid arteries;
decline blood pressure;
constriction or dilation of the pupils while maintaining a reaction to light;
rare shallow breathing;
maintaining normal tendon reflexes.

Usually fainting disappears within a few seconds, but sometimes it can last up to 2-5 minutes, which is more common with heart disease.

First aid for fainting

It is very important to recognize fainting before the person loses consciousness. Usually in this state, a person turns pale and weakens sharply, his pupils may dilate and he begins to slide to the floor. If you see a person in this state, you need to help him sit down to lower his head below his knees. This will help to quickly increase blood flow to the brain and help avoid fainting itself by eliminating its main cause.

If it was not possible to prevent fainting, and it nevertheless came, it is necessary to try to catch the person in order to prevent him from hitting his head. Then we lay the victim on a horizontal surface and unfasten the clothes. it needs to be slightly raised to ensure the fastest flow of blood to the brain. It is important to ensure receipt fresh air. Usually, after this, a person comes to his senses, but if this did not happen, then it is necessary to proceed to resuscitation measures.

AT this case the simplest resuscitation there will be an initiation in the brain of the formation of a dominant focus of excitation. This means that you need to give the brain some kind of noticeable signal from the outside world, for example, sprinkle on your face. cold water, lightly pat on the cheeks. Previously, ammonia was often given a sniff, its pungent smell is a strong irritant. But its use is fraught with problems with respiratory arrest, therefore, in recent times it is not recommended.

Most often, to help a person in a faint, it is enough to put him down and provide access to fresh air.

After a person comes to his senses, he should not be allowed to get up abruptly, this can lead to a decrease in the blood supply to the brain and repeated fainting. It is better to sit with him for a while, talk, ask him to analyze his feelings, control the state of the person. If he still feels weak, it is better to call the doctors, as prolonged hypoxia very dangerous for the brain.

What examinations should be done after fainting

As we have said, most fainting is absolutely not dangerous to health, but in some cases they can be a sign of serious illness. Therefore, if fainting has been repeated several times or the condition is poorly restored after fainting, it is necessary to go to the hospital for a thorough diagnosis, which will help determine the cause of fainting and choose correct method treatment.

Dizziness and fainting when moving from a horizontal to a vertical position are indicative of postural hypertension. Situational syncope can occur after defecation, urination, or coughing. Sometimes loss of consciousness is caused by heart problems. Weakness in different parts body before fainting may indicate a stroke.

It is because of the large number of causes that can cause fainting that it is necessary to examine the heart with a stethoscope and ECG, the nervous system, all sensations, reflexes and motor function. Sometimes the patient needs to be admitted to the hospital for observation and a thorough examination.

If fainting is severe or recurs frequently, medical examination to determine their cause.

If doctors suspect heart problems, they may suggest echocardiography, monitoring heart rate, electrophysiological studies of the heart. Blood tests are also mandatory, which will reveal possible anemia or an increase in the level, which also quite often leads to fainting.

Syncope Treatment Methods (Video)

The treatment for fainting depends on its cause. If there is serious illness, which causes fainting, then curing the underlying disease will help get rid of them. But in most situations, special treatment is not required. For example, with postural hypotension or situational syncope, you just need to be more careful not to get up abruptly and take all precautions in situations where syncope is possible.

But in most cases, fainting is associated in the wrong way life. And the point here is not at all in some bad habits, and in modern image life. People who have problems with the autonomic nervous system and fainting associated with its work just need to adjust their lives so that these problems become less.

A simple lifestyle change often helps to get rid of fainting.

It is very important to eat properly and fully, avoiding starvation or overeating. You also need to move a lot. If you do not feel enough strength to exercise, at first you can just walk more, always in the fresh air. It is also important to reduce the amount of stress in life and start getting enough sleep, staying up late and getting at least 8 hours of sleep. Gradually, the work of the autonomic nervous system will come into order and fainting will stop.

Everyone should know how first aid is given for fainting. Due to the influence of certain factors, the visceral nervous system can "turn off" the functioning of the cardiovascular vascular system. This is expressed in the form of instant heart spasms along with a decrease in blood pressure. because of significant expansion veins almost no blood reaches the heart, and the brain does not receive the necessary amount of oxygen. And because of inferiority cerebral circulation a person loses consciousness, and then emergency care should be provided for fainting.

Fainting is an operational protective agent of the human brain. When there is insufficient oxygen, the brain tries to restore normal blood circulation in order to save its neurons. He does this in an elementary way: he gives the patient's body lying position, as a result of which the activity of the heart is facilitated. For blood to flow to the brain, the heart does not need to pump it up. After the brain has received the necessary amount of oxygen, consciousness returns to the person. The duration of syncope, as a rule, does not take long.

Causes of fainting

psychological shock, sharp pain or fright;
general weakness organism;
lack of oxygen oxygen starvation;
deficit physical activity for a long time;
toxicosis in expectant mothers;
violation of the nervous system and its instability.

With a nervous shock, a person can instantly fall blood pressure followed by a decrease in blood flow. Due to impaired blood supply to the brain, fainting can occur. At constant weakness may occur in the body nervous exhaustion. The reasons for this are frequent unrest and poor nutrition. In this case, blood pressure also drops and fainting occurs. If a person is in a room where there is not enough enough oxygen, he can faint when suffocated. This can happen in a smoky room or where there are a lot of people.

Staying in a standing position for a long time without making any movements can provoke fainting. Due to the inactivity of the legs, stagnation of blood occurs, as a result of which, it enters the brain in smaller quantities. Before losing consciousness, a person may feel sick, vision is often blurred and ringing in the ears will appear. When such symptoms appear, you do not need to move, it is better to lie down and relax.

Fainting can occur due to significant blood loss, diseases of the heart and blood vessels, the presence of acute and chronic diseases, or trauma to the skull. Urgent care when fainting for the above reasons, it is necessary. When the loss of consciousness lasts more than two minutes, after rendering first aid for fainting, you should consult a doctor.

The difference between fainting and loss of consciousness

Fainting is considered a short loss of consciousness without a decrease in tone in the muscle fibers and loss of protective reflexes. Therefore, for a person, fainting does not pose a big threat. But it happens that when the muscles relax, the airways become blocked due to the sunken root of the tongue.

Sometimes fainting turns into loss of consciousness, it is dangerous for a person's life. May arise due to sharp drop and headbutt. Then the affected person may experience convulsions, which are a signal for the restoration of cerebral circulation. These seizures are not like epileptic seizures, they appear due to the suppressed work of brain cells. If a person fainted due to unknown circumstances, you should immediately call a doctor and determine true reason the situation that has arisen. First aid for fainting is to ensure that the flow of blood and, accordingly, oxygen reaches the head.

A person after a faint remembers what happened and can determine his location relative to the objects of the surrounding space. With a faint, reason comes to a person faster and the risk of possible complications decreases.

First aid for fainting and collapse

Most often, when fainting, first aid can be provided by people around the person. And it does not matter who will provide it - a simple person or experienced specialist. Before medical assistance bears this name because it does not involve the use necessary medicines. You should figure out what to do when you faint, what actions will be more correct in this situation. If the fainting caught the patient in a sitting position, he should be put on his back. When it is not possible to put a person down, you need to try to put him down so that his head touches his knees. Along with this, you need to unbutton the buttons at the top of the jacket and ask others to ventilate the room. If possible, it is better to transfer a person to fresh air.

In addition, when providing first aid for fainting, it is necessary to feel the pulsation on the carotid artery and fix the period when the person lost consciousness. Under no circumstances should anything be placed under the head. On the contrary, both legs should be raised so that they are above the level of the patient's head.

This will ensure a rapid flow of blood to the brain and the condition is normalized.

To excite the reflexes of brain cells, ammonia should be used. For these purposes, you need to moisten a cotton swab with alcohol and bring it to the patient's nose. In the treatment of fainting, it is allowed to let the patient smell unpleasant pungent odors, for example, the smell of lettuce.

If after a few seconds the person does not come to his senses, before starting pulmonary resuscitation you have to try to bring him back to consciousness. Do not re-seat a person, as this will provoke a rapid outflow of blood from the brain. It is better to pat the patient on both cheeks, which will cause an effective flow of blood to the brain cells.

Collapse is one of the forms that occurred as a result of damage to the center that regulates the tone of the vascular system. The state of collapse is similar to fainting, although it is much more disturbing and dangerous. With it, convulsions, arrhythmia appear, body temperature may drop.

In this case, during the collapse, you need to provide the first medical care(PMP). If such a condition arose as a result of a large blood loss, help should begin with stopping the bleeding. In addition, anti-inflammatory therapy is allowed.

The patient should be given a horizontal position to replenish the volume of blood with available solutions administered intravenously or with a dropper. The use of drugs that increase blood pressure is recommended. Then the patient should be taken to the nearest medical facility.

If the child has fainted, it is necessary to lay him on hard surface and sprinkle it cool water. Next, you need to rub both arms, chest, as well as back and legs with the help of cologne. If after the procedure there is no result, it is recommended to use ammonia. But here special care should be taken, since excessive inhalation can be the result of paralysis of the baby's vasomotor center. A cotton swab moistened with ammonia should be kept at the nose for no more than 30 seconds. If necessary, it is possible to repeat the procedure, but only after 2 minutes. This may continue until the child wakes up. With a deep faint, it is advisable for adults and children to do artificial respiration. After the child has come to his senses, you can give him a hot drink. strong tea. Most importantly, after what happened, a person needs complete rest.

Fainting is a short-term loss of consciousness caused by brain hypoxia. The cause of hypoxia is most often disorders of the vascular bed, occurring due to various factors, from being in a stuffy room to anemia. Fainting itself is not a life-threatening condition, but it can be a symptom dangerous disease such as pulmonary or coronary artery stenosis.

Despite the short duration of this pathological condition, you must be able to provide first aid, since it is perhaps the most common of all acute pathologies after bleeding.

Signs of fainting and its difference from other pathologies with similar symptoms

Despite the suddenness, fainting still has so-called harbingers, thanks to which people usually feel its approach in advance. Signs of fainting include:

Weakness;
Nausea;
Flashing "flies" before the eyes, darkening in the eyes;
Paleness of the skin;
Cold perspiration;
Tinnitus.

Shortly after the onset of these symptoms, the person loses consciousness.

Syncope should be distinguished from coma and epileptic seizure. If ordinary syncope does not require hospitalization of the patient, then in these conditions it is necessary. It is easy to make a mistake, because in all three cases there is a loss of consciousness. The only difference is that during fainting it is short-term, lasting no more than 5 minutes, more often 1-2 minutes. It should be borne in mind that if fainting is prolonged (3-5 minutes), salivation, convulsions and involuntary urination, which sometimes leads to syncope being confused with epileptic seizure. It is difficult for a non-specialist to determine the difference, so if first aid for fainting did not help and the person is unconscious for 5 minutes or more, you should call ambulance.

The cause of fainting is oxygen starvation of the brain, caused, to put it simply, by a sharply deteriorating blood flow to the brain. The easiest and most logical way to improve blood supply to top point torso, which is the head - to give the body a horizontal position. It is this simple action that is the main first aid measure for fainting. You also need to do everything necessary so that the victim gets access to fresh air: loosen too tight clothes, open a window in a stuffy room.

This is usually sufficient and no other assistance is required. If fainting occurs in a person with chronic disease, then when he comes to, he needs to contact the attending physician or take medication in accordance with the instructions given to him by the doctor in advance.

If in a prone position, provided with fresh air, the victim did not regain consciousness, he should be laid on his side so that he does not choke on vomit and suffocate due to a sunken tongue, and call an ambulance. Until the ambulance arrives, you can not leave a person unconscious alone. A doctor should also be called if the victim has regained consciousness, but his health remains poor.

First aid mistakes

Ordinary fainting does not pose a critical threat to life and health, especially if first aid is provided correctly. But, despite the simplicity of measures to provide assistance in this state, often people who sincerely want to be useful make mistakes, which are sometimes great danger than fainting itself.

Error 1- do not let the victim lie down. For some reason, it is widely believed that a fainted person should not be allowed to lie down. Nothing is further from the truth. When fainting, it is necessary to lie down, just taking into account the fact that the person’s consciousness turns off and he falls, you need to try to make sure that the victim is not injured when falling. Simply put, you can’t let it fall, but you need to let it lie.

Mistake 3- ammonia. Even in some medical sources, you can find information that as a first aid measure for fainting, you need to bring a cotton swab or a bottle of ammonia to the nose of the victim. This is mistake. Ammonia, which has a pungent odor, can help at the stage of fainting harbingers, when a person feels impending dizziness, but has not yet lost consciousness. An unconscious man cannot recoil, caustic fumes ammonia easy to inspire chemical burn mucous membrane. In addition, ammonia can lead to reflex spasm and respiratory arrest.

Error 4- hit the victim on the cheeks. It is also an old way of bringing to life a person who has lost consciousness, more than once beaten by cinema. But what is good for cinema is not always useful in real life. Weak slaps will not help in any way, and strong ones can hurt - when a person is unconscious, it is easy to miscalculate strength and cause bruising of soft tissues, and this is still in best case. Such treatment is worse than the disease itself - after fainting, the victim recovers within an hour, and the bruises disappear much longer.

Mistake 5- Spray the victim with water. useless action in warm time year and bearing potential harm in the cold.

Conclusion

Remember that help must be competent, because excessive actions can lead to a result opposite to what was expected. All that needs to be done as first aid for fainting is:

Lay down the victim;
Provide fresh air supply.

AT doubtful cases- call a doctor.

Name:

sudden loss consciousness of a non-epileptic nature due to a diffuse decrease in brain metabolism caused by a short-term decrease in cerebral blood flow. Nearly a third of people experience fainting at some time in their lives, but only in a small number of cases is fainting a manifestation of a serious, life-threatening illness.

The reasons

The cause of fainting can be a variety of conditions, but it is possible to establish a specific cause in only half of the patients.

Vasodepressor (vasovagal) syncope is the most common type of syncope in adolescence and young adulthood. The provoking factors are not often emotional reactions(pain, fear, sight of blood, etc.), being in a cramped stuffy room. A few seconds before the loss of consciousness, nausea or lightheadedness, profuse sweating, a feeling of warmth spreading through the body, and palpitations traditionally appear. After regaining consciousness, patients often complain of general weakness, nausea, discomfort in abdominal cavity. With age, syncope often regresses.

Situational syncope appears in certain conditions. Nicturic syncope traditionally develops in older men with nocturnal urination. In their origin, the orthostatic component matters, the extension skin vessels in a warm bed, but mostly reflex activation vagus nerve and braking sympathetic system at the time of urination.

With fainting associated with defecation, important role straining also plays a role, causing an increase in intrathoracic pressure and a decrease in venous return. Similar mechanism underlies cough syncope that occurs in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with a paroxysm of prolonged cough.

Hypersensitivity of the carotid sinus is one of the common causes syncope in older men suffering from arterial hypertension and atherosclerosis carotid arteries. Fainting is provoked by wearing clothes with a tight collar or turning the head. The mechanism of syncope is associated with the activation of the vagus nerve.

Orthostatic hypotension is responsible for approximately 10% of syncope cases. It is caused by a violation of postural cardiovascular reflexes associated with damage to the trunk, spinal cord(above the upper thoracic region), sympathectomy, polyneuropathies involving autonomic fibers. orthostatic hypotension cause antihypertensive drugs, phenathiazines, tricyclic antidepressants, levodopa products, and dopamine agonists.

Heart disease is responsible for approximately 25% of syncope cases. This is the most dangerous option syncope, which must be excluded in the first place. Very often, fainting, especially in the elderly, appears due to a violation of the heart rhythm (weakness syndrome). sinus node, blockade of the conduction system of the heart, atrial or ventricular tachyarrhythmias). With complete atrioventricular blockade, there is a very fast loss consciousness, the pulse is not palpable, with the syndrome of weakness of the sinus node, bradycardia is detected. Unlike other variants, cardiogenic syncope does not always appear in vertical position. Syncope that occurs against the background of ventricular tachy- or bradyarrhythmias is characterized by the absence of prodromal symptoms. Patients with vasodepressor syncope more often complain of palpitations before fainting than patients with tachyarrhythmia, especially ventricular. Unlike vasodepressor syncope, loss of consciousness in cardiogenic syncope is so sudden that the patient may be injured. Cardiogenic syncope can occur with heart defects, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Neurological causes account for no more than 5% of syncope cases. Occasionally, the cause of fainting is vertebrobasilar insufficiency, loss of consciousness is traditionally accompanied by focal stem symptoms (double vision, dizziness, ataxia, nystagmus, dysarthria, facial numbness) or hemianopsia. With stenosing lesions of the vertebral arteries, syncope can be provoked by prolonged hyperextension of the head. An even rarer underlying cause of syncope is subclavian steal syndrome, caused by occlusion of one of the subclavian arteries proximal to the origin of the vertebral artery. Blood flow to the distal subclavian artery retrograde blood flow through the vertebral artery on the same side and robs the basilar and opposite vertebral artery, causing transient hemodynamic insufficiency throughout the vertebrobasilar basin. Unilateral carotid stenosis or occlusion does not traditionally cause syncope, but it is extremely rare for severe bilateral carotid stenosis to cause syncope, especially when systemic blood pressure decreases. A sudden increase in intracranial pressure due to acute hydrocephalus reduces cerebral blood flow in colloid cysts, tumors, and intracerebral hemorrhages.

Occasionally, fainting is associated with a lack of oxygen (with acute hypoxia, anemia, hemoglobinopathies, poisoning carbon monoxide), with hypoglycemia.

Symptoms

Fainting is often preceded by dizziness, veil before the eyes, blurred vision, general weakness, tinnitus, nausea, paresthesia in distal parts limbs. On examination, pallor, profuse sweating, low blood pressure, weak rapid or slow (depending on the syncope mechanism) pulse are traditionally detected. There is no pause in breathing. Muscle tone decreases. Not infrequently there are single short-term myoclonic twitches in the limbs (convulsive syncope). Urinary incontinence is not common. In most cases, fainting is associated with a certain position of the body: consciousness, as a rule, is lost in an upright position, but quickly, over several seconds, returns to a horizontal one, as soon as blood flow to the brain increases. But sometimes consciousness is restored more slowly, over several minutes. Unlike epileptic seizure fainting develops more gradually and the fall is traditionally slower (the patient "sinks" rather than "falls" on the floor), so the person has time to protect himself from damage. After a faint, confusion is possible, but unlike an epileptic seizure, it is always short-lived.

Diagnostics

Fainting usually lasts no longer than a few minutes. First-time fainting may be a manifestation life threatening diseases - severe violation heart rate, subarachnoid hemorrhage, gastrointestinal bleeding, embolism pulmonary arteries, myocardial infarction, dissecting aortic aneurysm. Inspection during an attack (BP, heart rate) may have diagnostic value. Important orthostatic test and a heart examination. At neurological examination important to pay attention to focal lesion(stroke), signs of polyneuropathy, extrapyramidal disorders. Reproduction of symptoms is likely with hyperventilation or carotid sinus massage, but is consequently dangerous and should only be done in a state of readiness for resuscitation. Comprehensive examination should include electrocardiography.

Treatment

For vasodepressor syncope in individuals young age often there is no need to special treatment. It is enough to relieve the patient of the fear of an attack, explaining in detail the nature of the disease to him, and increase salt intake. Sometimes beta-blockers also help - propranolol (anaprilin), bellataminal, ephedrine, disopyramide (ritmilen), blocking the activity of the vagus nerve, serotonin reuptake inhibitors (fluoxetine or sertraline), acting on central mechanisms.

Articles from the forum on the topic ""

Is fainting like a dream?

fainting - losing consciousness. remember nothing.

This is a short-term loss of consciousness associated with a drop in cardiac activity, spasm blood vessels or a sudden drop in blood pressure. It is often caused by a nervous or mental shock, as well as prolonged fasting or various types poisoning from pure chemistry to smoking for the first time "in a puff" ....

Sleep is natural and necessary for man process. Fainting is a painful short-term loss of consciousness, usually associated with a sharp oxygen starvation of the brain due to various reasons.

It looks like something like a dream .... it seems that 3 hours have passed, but in fact a couple of seconds, minutes ..

fainting is not like sleep. your eyes are open, but you don’t see anything, you lose your orientation in space, you don’t feel your body, you seem to even hear the sounds of what is happening nearby, but you don’t feel or see anything

Have you ever fainted? I have never in my life. Does this mean that I'm healthy as a horse?

And I never died. Does this mean I'm immortal?

Yep, just like a horse!

Everything happens for the first time.
Fell as the lights went out.
Unpleasant.

I did not faint. You are healthy as a horse, I am healthy as a horse

fainting is a sudden outflow of blood from the head. the body wants to stabilize and turns itself off for a while to take a horizontal position and even out blood flow. fainting can happen unexpectedly in the heat and under stress, with fright. not always associated with general condition health

Health 24.02.2016

Dear readers, today I want to talk on the blog on an important topic: how to provide first aid for fainting. According to statistics, a short-term loss of consciousness occurs in 20% of people. No one is safe from this, neither we ourselves, nor our children and loved ones. Sometimes we get lost, panic sets in. And to act, meanwhile, it is necessary quickly and very quickly.

Let's figure out what you need to do first of all if you want to help a person with a faint. And also talk about if you yourself feel that you are getting sick, you are close to fainting state- what to do in this case?

Causes and symptoms of fainting

Fainting itself is a sudden short-term loss of consciousness. It can be called different reasons. main reason fainting is still a violation of cerebral circulation. But there can be many more reasons for fainting.

Primarily:

Abrupt change of position;
Stuffiness, heat;
strong exercise stress may also cause fainting;
Strong fear, severe stress;
Violation of cerebral circulation;
Heart disease and vascular problems;
Diseases cervical spine;
Strong overwork;
sun or heat stroke;
Alcohol, a large number of strong tea or coffee can also cause fainting;
Serious injury;
Some people may faint even when taking blood, in treatment rooms. Pain and fear can trigger fainting;
Weight loss drugs that have a diuretic effect can also cause fainting!

In this case, loss of consciousness is preceded by:

tinnitus (hum, squeak, etc.);
palpitations in the chest or neck;
respiratory disorders (frequent or rare breaths, etc.);
violations of posture and (or) balance;
general weakness;
dizziness;
numbness in the limbs;
blackouts in the eyes.

Then the skin may turn pale sharply, the victim falls to the ground. His breathing is rare and shallow, the pulse is weakly palpable. The skin may break out in a cold sweat.

Fainting can develop quickly, literally within seconds. But there are also a number of cases when loss of consciousness occurs a few minutes or even hours after provoking factors. Knowing and being able to apply certain methods, you can help a loved one or even yourself with fainting.

First aid for fainting

Of course, the first thing to do is call an ambulance immediately . Loss of consciousness is very serious and you may not immediately understand what exactly caused fainting. And medical care and timely diagnosis can help in identifying the causes of this condition and prevent a recurrence of the situation. But before the doctor arrives, the fainting usually goes away. And here we ourselves must know our main actions.

First aid for fainting

Our further actions depend on the weather and location. What are these actions?
When providing first aid for fainting, you should:

Lay the person on their back. If a person passes out on the street, summer heat be sure to put it in the shade. Unfasten the belt and collar of the garment. Check your pulse. The head should lie on a flat surface, you can put a towel under your head, it is better to turn it slightly to one side.
It is also necessary to raise the victim's legs, rest them against a tree, wall, etc. The legs are fixed as high as possible, up to a right angle with the body. You can put a roller under your feet or something like that. Feet should be ABOVE head level.
Regarding ammonia, you can hear different opinions. We often use it for fainting. The only thing you want to pay attention to, if you use it, look so as not to bring it too close to your nose, otherwise a person, waking up a little and rising up, can hit his head from such a sudden pungent smell. They can rub whiskey a little.
If the clothes are light and made of natural fabrics, moisten them with water.
The face of the victim can also be wiped with a handkerchief soaked in cold water. Or just splash water on your face. Instead of water, you can use wet wipes and even fruit. For example, crush a watermelon and cover the head with pulp. It is impossible to wet the hair with a hair length greater than the thickness of the little finger. In this case, a space with moist air is created around the head, and conditions arise for heat stroke.

Fainting indoors in summer. First aid

If a faint catches a person indoors in the summer, the victim must be laid on a sofa, raised and straightened and raised legs. Unfasten the belt and collar of the clothes, if a tie is worn, untie it. Moisten face with water room temperature. Ensure air movement: open doors and windows so that the victim is away from the draft. Further, if there is ammonia, give it a sniff. I described the details above. Call an ambulance.

Fainting in the winter on the street. First aid

In winter, lay the unconscious person on the ground on the street. If there is, unfasten the belt of the upper and under it clothing. Unbutton the collar, loosen the scarf, raise your legs. Rub your face with snow. If there is a bench nearby, it is better to lay the victim on it in winter. The victim should be protected from wind and hypothermia. For example, stand on the leeward side, stow only in a buttoned outerwear. Call an ambulance.

Fainting indoors in winter. First aid

In winter, indoors, the victim should be laid on a sofa or bed. In the room where the unconscious is located, open the window. Raise the victim's legs, unfasten the belt and collar of the clothes. Moisten the face with water at room temperature. Then moisten the cotton wool or piece thick fabric in ammonia, give a sniff for two seconds. If ammonia is not at hand, you can give it a sniff fresh root ginger (cut it). When a person comes to his senses, it is good to give him warm sweet tea, if possible.

First aid for fainting with heat and sunstroke

Heatstroke. There are also cases when a person loses consciousness due to exposure to high temperatures. For example, heat stroke is disease state organism, which occurs during general overheating of the body as a result of prolonged exposure high temperature in environment. because of profuse sweating and hard work, the human body loses a lot of fluid. His blood thickens water-salt balance in the body is disturbed, and the tissues of the body, in particular the brain, receive less oxygen. The so-called oxygen starvation of the brain begins. Also, the disorder of the work of the heart and blood vessels begins.

The main signs of heat stroke are weakness, lethargy, headaches, nausea, dizziness, and often fainting. AT severe cases there are also seizures.
If a person fainted due to heat stroke, it is urgent to eliminate the source of heat - put the victim in the shade, or move to a ventilated room. Apply a container of ice or cold water to the head. You can also loosely wrap your hands with a wet cloth. We leave the victim to lie, providing a nearby flow of fresh air, call an ambulance and wait for the arrival of a doctor.

- a state of the body that occurs as a result of prolonged exposure to direct sunlight on a person's uncovered head. Often this is accompanied by general overheating of the body. Signs of sunstroke and first aid algorithm for sunstroke the same as in the case of heat stroke.

I talked about first aid for heat and sunstroke in more detail in the article Heat and Sunstroke..html

Let's watch a video about first aid for fainting. Dr. Komarovsky talks about this in a very interesting and accessible way.

Self-help for upcoming fainting

But there are situations when you need to help yourself, when a couple more seconds - and you can lose consciousness. Usually a person feels the approach of fainting. In this case, you need to act very quickly. About the fact that fainting is approaching, they say:

increasing tinnitus;
flickering of objects, "stars" and "dark flies" before the eyes.

As a rule, detachment from reality quickly grows, objects begin to “float”. What should you do if you are experiencing these symptoms?

We help ourselves in a state close to fainting

First, you should lie down or sit down. In summer, you need to sit outside in the shade. In winter, you should choose a bench.
ADVICE: When you feel dizzy and you are on the verge of fainting - you need to stand, cross your legs, lean on something with your back (let it be a tree, a wall of a house, any vertical something for support), and with all your might you must strain your legs and buttocks. Blood rushes to the head. The blood supply is restored.
Second, start breathing deeply. Breathe in as much as you can. Then stick out your belly and inhale some more. At the peak, exhale slowly, drawing in the stomach. The fuller the exhalation, the easier the next breath. For the first few seconds, breathe quickly, like a dog in heat. In this way, even the consequences of a heart attack can be mitigated. In the future, adjust the breathing rate according to the feeling of comfort.
Ear massage always helps a lot. Massage your ears with your fingertips.
And also press your finger on the point located in the middle between the nose and lips in the hollow. Hold firmly and release sharply. And so several times.

How long can a fainting last and how to understand that the matter is serious?

A normal faint lasts 20-30 seconds.

Is it necessary to call an ambulance if a person has regained consciousness during this time?

It's best to call an ambulance. Of course, the victim may be categorically against it and say that no ambulance is needed, that everything is already fine. It is important to know that if fainting happened, it is still a signal that not everything is fine with our body. It would be good to consult a doctor, do an ECG, perhaps, take tests, undergo an examination. For our wisdom - I talk about this all the time on the blog.

Important: loss of consciousness for more than 4-6 minutes suggests that a person may have serious problems with health. Be sure to seek immediate medical attention!

Is it worth giving pills for fainting as soon as a person comes to his senses?

You can often see a picture that as soon as a person comes to his senses, they try to give him a nitroglycerin tablet. Is it worth it? In no case! The thing is, you need to measure the pressure. If the pressure is low in a person and he is given more nitroglycerin, then he can only get worse. The pressure may drop further.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones, try not to be long time in the open sun, stuffy rooms, in the heat. Do not forget to fill the body's need for water, in particular, in summer, water should always be with you. And be sure to remember the algorithm for helping yourself and your loved ones if fainting has already occurred or is about to come.

And for the soul, we will listen today S. Rachmaninov. Vocalise . Performed by Veronika Dzhioeva. Wonderful voice, very soulful performance, and the music speaks for itself. No matter how much I listen to this vocalization, I always discover new shades for myself.

Health to you, health, harmony of life, avoid stress, rejoice simple things, do not faint, and if you saw that a person is ill, now you know how to provide first aid for fainting.