Healthy people can faint only in extreme circumstances - for example, when exposed to carbon monoxide or in a state of shock. If there is no external traumatic factor, but the person fainted, it is worth considering how to undergo a full examination of the body. Most likely, some pathological processes occur in one of the systems. What if a person faints? From the correctly and timely performed first aid depends on the subsequent condition of the patient.
Medical classification of syncope
Fainting is a short-term loss of consciousness. Medicine distinguishes the following types of this condition:
- The neurocardiogenic type combines several syndromes at once. The neurotransmitter type syncope is based on the reflex effect of the autonomic nervous system on vascular tone. This effect can be triggered by various external factors: air temperature, being in chronic stress, physical overwork, shock, severe fear or other psycho-emotional states.
- Orthostatic collapse is a short-term loss of consciousness provoked by a violation of blood flow in the brain. It can occur due to chronic diseases, or even with an overly abrupt movement of the body from horizontal to vertical.
- Arrhythmogenic syncope is a short-term loss of consciousness that is provoked by a violation of cardiac activity. Of all the other types, this is the most dangerous in the perspective of the patient's future life.
- Fainting, the cause of which is cerebrovascular disorder, is considered a separate type. These include pathological changes in the vessels of the brain, and the circulatory disorders provoked by them.
Why can a person faint?
The reasons are different - we are all individual, and in each case, the totality of factors that led to loss of consciousness is also different. Here is a list of the most common causes:
- a person fainted because the room is stuffy and very hot - with a tendency to hypoxia, oxygen starvation of brain cells develops;
- hunger and thirst - prolonged deprivation of food and water, regular malnutrition provoke the failure of all body systems;
- a sharp change in body position in space;
- diseases of the cardiovascular system;
- psychoemotional causes - sensitivity, shock, nervous breakdown;
- abuse of alcoholic beverages rarely leads to fainting, usually against its background there is a so-called alcoholic coma;
- hypovolemia, loss of a large amount of blood;
- hypoglycemia - a sharp jump in blood sugar;
- hypocapnia causing constriction of cerebral vessels;
- some chronic diseases of the internal organs (lead to fainting quite rarely).
What if a person faints? Do not try to determine the cause. First of all, you should give a person first aid.
What does fainting look like from the side?
If the other person was just cheerful and relatively cheerful, but suddenly he turned pale, his eyes closed or rolled, and the person lost consciousness - this is a swoon. After a few minutes, he himself can get out of this condition, but most often he should provide first aid to a person who faints.
Do not panic - as a rule, these measures are quite simple and even those who are far from medicine can perform them.
How to recognize real fainting or simulated
Sometimes people prone to posturing and attention of others may try to imitate fainting. How to distinguish whether it is fake or real?
With a real faint, the patient falls and can severely damage the limbs, head, trunk. With a simulated swoon, a person chooses where to land, and does this carefully. In most cases, there are no cramps during fainting - an exception if the patient does not suffer from some form of severity of epiactivity.
First aid to a person who has lost consciousness
What if a person faints? The first thing to do is to pack your spirits and not to panic. Call an ambulance - qualified medical help is necessary in this case.
Open windows, ventilate the room, provide the patient with oxygen.
If there is ammonia on hand, you should moisten the cotton wool and bring it to the patient’s nose - usually this is enough for a person to recover.
If there is no ammonia, then you can slightly sprinkle cold water into the face of a person who has fainted. First aid to a person can be carried out even by a person without a medical education. The main thing is not to harm the patient in the process of providing care.
What can not be done in any case
What to do if a person fainted, we figured out. It is equally important that it is NOT possible to do in such a situation, as incorrect actions can lead to disastrous consequences.
It is good if the head is below body level. This will allow blood flow to the brain to a greater extent. But if the head is above body level - you should not move the person, try to put it or move it from place to place until the Ambulance arrives.
If the patient fell and froze in an unnatural posture, he should not be moved either, during the fall he could get a displacement or trauma to the vertebrae, and movement can further aggravate the situation.
You should not try to do artificial respiration or try to pour water into the patient’s mouth. This can cause choking.
Reviews of patients who often fainted
Reviews of people who had to lose consciousness, read pretty scary. Particularly impressive are the stories of those who happened to faint on the street. some people fell from their height and cut their faces, received serious injuries. Often even a small blow is enough to provoke a displacement of the vertebrae. You can never walk on the street past a person who fell to the ground - he may need help.
It is no less sad to read reviews of people who have lost consciousness about treatment. Modern free medicine refers to these conditions rather coolly - many neurologists calmly get off with the diagnoses of osteochondrosis or vegetovascular dystonia, although loss of consciousness is a serious condition that requires an in-depth examination of the body.
Doctors Tips: How to Prevent Fainting
Simple rules of prevention should be observed - they, of course, do not guarantee the exact absence of a sudden loss of consciousness, but will minimize this risk.
- Quitting alcohol and smoking. Both of these habits have an extremely negative effect on the state of the vessels of the brain, and over time can lead to various kinds of chronic pathologies and disorders.
- Moderate physical education - in particular, walking, swimming, dancing. Weightlifting and athletics can be contraindicated for people with diseases of the cardiovascular system and the elderly. In addition, these sports often require large physical costs, which in the future can adversely affect the state of health.
- Regular and sound sleep is the basis of good health and the best prevention of autonomic and vascular disorders, along with proper nutrition, which satisfies all the body's needs for minerals, vitamins, fatty acids.