How to Get Rid of Fainting

How to Get Rid of Fainting

How to Get Rid of Fainting

You are attending a church service, focused intently on the priest's sermon, when all of a sudden, the old woman beside you drops to the floor. Some church-goers gather around the old woman to help her sit up. You ask the other person seated next to you on what has transpired. She whispers, “She just fainted, so don't worry.”

Helping Someone Who Faints

Fainting is so simple that there is usually no treatment recommended. In children, frequency of fainting is reduced as he or she grows older. The only time an individual needs to be admitted to a hospital is when he or she has myocardial infarction, aortic stenosis, cardiac disease and arrhythmia. If an individual has no heart disease, then he or she is considered an out-patient.

An individual who faints should be left on the ground. His or her legs should be elevated to optimize the flow of blood to the brain while lying down for at least 10 minutes. After this, the individual should get up and sit down slowly for a few minutes. It is important to assist the patient in this process because if he or she gets up too fast, he or she may end up fainting again.

If someone is about to faint but can no longer lie down, the patient should sit and put his or her head between the knees. The individual should be assisted in holding his or her hand behind the head, which you should press downwards while he or she pushes her head upwards to generate blood flow. This way, the risk of fainting and its symptoms are reduced.

Why Does This Happen?

Fainting is caused by different factors that trigger the sudden drop of blood flow that should be supplied to the brain. Once this happens, a short loss of consciousness occurs, causing an individual to suddenly drop to the ground.

Causes of fainting include low blood sugar, use of alcohol or drugs, medications used to treat nasal congestion, allergies, anxiety and high blood pressure, emotional distress, fear, stress, severe pain, standing too long, excessive coughing and straining during bowel movement or urination.

Fainting treatments, however, differ from one case to another. If fainting is caused by an abnormality in the heartbeat, a doctor should then prescribe medicine. If fainting is caused by reduced blood flow, then a particular blood flow-increasing drug should be taken.

What Else Can You Do?

• Minimize possible injury by helping the victim to the ground. Tap briskly or yell – do anything to stimulate him or her vigorously. If he or she does not respond, call 911 as soon as possible. Begin CPR if the patient’s pulse rate is not normal.
• After the patient’s recovery, encourage lying down while waiting for medical help. You may think that the cause of the incident is harmless, but you still need to have him or her lie down for about 20 minutes before you allow him or her to get up again.
• If you can already talk to the patient, ask him or her about persistent symptoms that may indicate life-threatening problems. Watch out for symptoms like loss of function, weakness, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, chest pain, back pain and headache as these are dangerous indicators of more serious health conditions.

Medical Treatments

Fainting is technically called syncope and treatments for each type vary. Below are the different types of syncope and what you can do to speed up a patient's recovery:

Postural Syncope – Postural syncope happens when an individual changes his or her body position. If you see someone fainting because of this, you should flex his or her calf muscles and help the patient sit up for a few minutes. Avoid dehydration at all costs.

Some elderly people faint easily when changing body position because of their low blood pressure. If this is the case, large meals should be avoided after fainting. You should not let the victim lie down after eating, either.

Vasovagal Syncope (Situational) – An example of this would be fainting during urinating, coughing or blood drawing and fainting because of embarrassing or scary situations. In cases of vasovagal syncope, lifestyle alterations must be done. For example, an individual should avoid prolonged standing. He or she must also increase intake of water and salt (but only under proper medical supervision). In case these episodes become frequent, medication should be prescribed.

Neurological Syncope – Medications are needed if an individual has fainted because of seizures due to brain-related problems. In case of transient ischemic attacks or stroke, a physician needs to fully evaluate the general health condition of the patient to identify any significant blockages to the brain in the arteries. Medications and surgery may be necessary, depending on the doctor’s findings.

Cardiac Syncope – Getting rid of cardiac-related fainting requires lifestyle alterations and medications designed to enhance the performance of the heart and limit its demands. The act alone of controlling high blood pressure calls for lifestyle change and medication. Sometimes, prescription of anti-arrhythmic medication is needed.

To totally get rid of cardiac-related fainting, surgeries like angioplasty or bypass surgery are recommended, especially when the problem is rooted from coronary heart disease. Valve replacement may also be done if the fainting is caused by some valve problems. If fainting is related to arrhythmia, catheter ablation may be employed.

Aside from surgery, pacemakers help get rid of fainting too. A pacemaker is needed to slow down the heart of patients with fast arrhythmias. Defibrillators may also be implanted if fainting is due to fast arrhythmias that develop as life-threatening conditions.

Keep in mind that in helping someone who has fainted, you need to be as calm as possible. If you panick like crazy, you may do more damage than good. If you are poor at handling a case like this because you tend to get too nervous, it is better to call 911 or ask help from experts who can come over immediately to assist the individual.