Stress and fainting: how to avoid vagal discomfort?
Written by: Loris Vitry (holistic coach)
Validated by: Cathy Maillot (Osteopath)
Caution: If you have any medical questions or concerns, please speak to your doctor. Even if the articles on this site are based on scientific studies, they do not replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
In medicine there are several forms of ailments which are considered transient.
Without much danger a priori, these forms of ailments are often warning signs of a much more serious illness.
Among this large number of ailments, we have vagal discomfort.
Characterized by unconsciousness, which usually lasts only a few seconds, vagal discomfort is mostly caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure.
What are the symptoms of this discomfort?
Can we cure him?
What are the tips to avoid it?
Thanks to this article, you will know a little more.
What is vagal discomfort?
As we said above, vasovagal or vagal discomfort is an instantaneous loss of consciousness that is closely related to the vagus nerve.
This pneumogastric nerve that goes from the stomach to the brain, making a detour through the heart, is a very sensitive organ.
Indeed, when the latter is very stimulated, it slows down the heart rate.
This will then cause a drop in blood pressure which will be followed by discomfort, as the blood will hurt from the heart to the brain.
A moment that could well be fateful for a person, if this discomfort recurs too frequently.
What are the causes of vagal discomfort?
From studies on this issue, it has been proven that young people are the most affected by this disease.
Vagal discomfort can therefore be caused by:
- The practice of very intense physical effort.
- Prolonged standing.
- A strong emotion.
- Eating too heavy a meal.
- The heat.
- Orthostatic hypotension.
- Heart problems.
- Neurological problems.
- Fatigue.
To these certain causes, we can also add stress.
In fact, in some people, stress causes momentary loss of knowledge.
What are the symptoms of vagal discomfort?
The symptoms of such discomfort are very particular.
Indeed, in the event of discomfort, the person who receives the full force of the effects of this temporary illness will initially feel their heart rate accelerate.
Then will follow hot flashes.
After these hot flashes, comes the phase of fainting.
Like any ailment, the symptoms of vagal discomfort vary from person to person.
So, while one person will experience nausea and dizziness, another will instead experience blurred vision.
On the other hand against could be subject to the phenomena of dry mouth, or ringing in the ears …
Basically signals that will be accompanied by the effects of extreme fatigue.
What are the different types of vagal discomfort?
In general, specialists have managed to distinguish three main types of vagal discomfort.
These are closely related to the conditions in which the person felt unwell or lost consciousness.
We therefore have syncope, discomfort without loss of consciousness and faintness discomfort.
Syncope
Syncope is a type of vagal discomfort that is characterized by a sudden loss of consciousness that lasts only a few seconds.
The latter can also be accompanied by a fall.
If a person is a victim of this type of discomfort, it will be noticed that the latter in addition to being pale will no longer feel any external sensation before regaining consciousness.
Lipothymic discomfort or faintness
Less common than the first, this type of vagal discomfort is a sort of abortive syncope.
The individual who will be the victim will feel that he will pass out in a few moments.
This will not take long to happen, because in the next few minutes he will find himself on the ground.
On the other hand, a patient who suffers from a lipothymic discomfort remains more or less sensitive to his external environment.
These are people who very often have vision problems.
Uneasiness without loss of consciousness
This type of discomfort is less risky than all the others.
Indeed, although the individual feels a sensation of discomfort, the latter will not lose consciousness.
She will have dizziness, difficulty breathing, anxiety attacks, but will stay awake.
What actions should be taken when faced with a situation of vagal discomfort?
How to react to vagal discomfort?
In carrying out your daily tasks, you may witness vagal discomfort.
If this is the case, you should immediately lay the person down by raising their legs.
Indeed, this particular position will allow the blood to go very quickly to his brain.
Moreover, following this gesture, when the victim regains consciousness, she must very quickly go to a health center for complete care.
However, in the event that, after your gesture, the individual does not regain consciousness, you must then place them in a lateral safety position.
Called PLS, the Lateral Safety Position is this posture which aims to free the airways of the person suffering from the discomfort.
As soon as this is done, you can now reach the emergency services who will rush to the scene of the incident.
In your speech, be brief and give a very precise location of the places to the emergency services.
These simple little things will save the life of the person lying on the ground.
What actions should be taken to avoid vagal discomfort?
If you are a person prone to vagal discomfort, there are simple things you can do to protect yourself from it.
Learn to stay calm
This is advice that goes to all of her people who are very emotional and who, under stress, lose consciousness very quickly.
By learning to remain calm, you will avoid this kind of discomfort as much as possible.
This obviously involves the practice of sports such as yoga.
Indeed, through meditation, you will learn to manage your stress and to remain more lucid which will allow you not to get carried away too quickly.
Eat a good diet and stop smoking
As in all cases of discomfort, it is important to change your eating habits in order to be able to heal.
This requires not only a rich and balanced diet, but also a healthy lifestyle.
This will then result in a systematic cessation of tobacco and other narcotics.
Take action at the first warning signs
At the first signs of vagal discomfort, the person who is prone may adopt certain actions.
So she could lie down and raise her legs by sticking them to a wall.
She can also line up cushions to make a pile on which her legs rest.
It is also possible that by squeezing the hands very tightly, the person can get the blood to flow back to their head.
Also, if vagal discomfort occurs too often, it is advisable to consult a doctor.
Thus, the latter will be able to detect whether the discomfort does not hide a more serious problem.
This will allow treatment to be provided early enough.
Through these little tips, a person suffering from vagal discomfort can indeed prevent it.
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