What is Fainting

Fainting is a result of lack of blood in the brain, owing to weakened heart action brought about by severe pain in some part of the body, by shock, indigestion, starvation, by being confined in an overheated atmosphere or by general weakness from a serious illness.

The person about to faint suddenly feels dizzy, has a sickening sensation in the pit of the stomach, has ringing in the ears and blurred vision, turns pale and breaks out in a cold sweat.

The treatment, if he is sitting, is to bend his head down between his knees or , better still, have him lie down flat on his back with the head on a lower level than the rest of the body, loosen his clothes , elevate his limbs and massage them in the direction toward the heart.

About a half an inch from the inner end of the eyebrow (nasal end) there is a little depression, which can be felt as you run the tip of a finger along the margin of the hairline, press hard against the bone at this point and the fainted person will come to himself and open his eyes.

There is a nerve emerging from the bone at this point (supraorbital nerve) and pressure on this nerve stimulates heart action. If the patient can swallow, give him half a teaspoonful of aromatic spirits of ammonia in a few spoonfuls of water.Also give him some hot coffee or other sweet hot drink