On a fine bright morning, you wake up and stretch your hands to start the day. Suddenly you feel dizziness in your head. Sounds familiar? If so, you are on the right page to find out what happened.
Feeling dizziness when raising arms above your head is quite a bit common. There are biological reasons for dizziness.
Several factors cause you to feel such dizziness. Low blood pressure and Subclavian Steal Syndrome are some common and probable ones.
Now, don’t feel worried thinking that you are seriously ill. Stick along as I simplify the causes behind the scene of your feeling such faintness as you raise your hand.
Why The Dizziness When Raising Arms Above Head?
Many people find themselves feeling faint when raising arms above their heads. So, if you sense the same, there is no need to feel worried about the thing.
One common reason to feel dizzy is the change in blood circulation to your brain. Now, there can be many ways to feel dizzy all of a sudden. Such as-
- Raising hands
- Shifting your body position suddenly
- Moving your head quickly
Now, how do they affect the blood flow? For instance, raising your hands upwards can cause your heart to give extra effort to pump blood. Therefore, there might be a change in your blood circulation if you have low blood pressure and feel lightheaded when your arms are above your head.
A similar thing occurs when you suddenly change your position – significantly when you suddenly move your head. The sudden change in your body causes the blood flow to your brain to change, and you feel dizzy.
Reasons Behind The Dizziness
Feeling faint when raising arms above the head is not that rare. There are some common reasons behind the scenes.
Low Blood Pressure
Like an automobile, your brain also requires fuel to run on. Blood transports the necessary fuel for the brain to run effectively. Now, if you have low blood pressure, raising your arms above can change blood flow.
That is because, as you raise your arms, the blood will start to rush down. So, your heart will try to pump the blood with extra effort to work its way up.
Now, if you have low blood pressure, the flow would get disturbed, and you will feel dizzy.
To ensure you have low blood pressure, you can check one more thing. When you suddenly get up from bed or change your position from sitting to standing, do you feel dizzy?
Changing your position suddenly causes your blood flow to change. As a result, you can feel lightheaded due to low blood pressure.
Subclavian Steal Syndrome
Your heart is the pump of your body that maintains blood flow. Like any other pump, if the outlet or inlet is jammed, the flow is sure to be disrupted, is it not?
Similarly, vessels in a specific area in your heart can get jammed.
In medical science, this is known as Occlusion, which means blockage, and Stenosis, which refers to narrowing the blood vessel. When any of these two occurs in the subclavian area of your heart, you will face Subclavian Steal Syndrome.
Due to this syndrome, you can get an abnormal reverse blood flow if you raise your arms way above your head. The blood flow to your head also gets affected, and raising arms above the head; dizziness will start.
Subclavian Steal Syndrome is quite rare. But if you have the syndrome, diagnosis and treatment are possible. So, relax, and let’s keep going to find out further.
Diagnosing
Are you worried about why you feel lightheaded when your arms are above your head? Or are you tensed if something serious is wrong with you? Well, not to worry.
Feeling dizzy in such a way is quite common. The causes can be critical rarely. But if you do have the symptom, there are simple ways to diagnose the issue.
Low Blood Pressure
For many people, low blood pressure is preferable. However, if the pressure is too low, that will be a problem.
Are you feeling dizzy now and then, even when you raise your hand above your head? If you look for the cause of this problem, the most common answer would be your low blood pressure.
Hypotension or low blood pressure is very common. There are many ways you can confirm its occurrence. The simplest way is to measure your blood pressure.
If it’s lower than 90 for the top number and below 60 for the lower one, you should start doing something about it!
There are also some symptoms you can check to find out if you have low blood pressure or not. Such as-
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Blurred vision
- Tiredness
- Nausea
If you are facing these symptoms, consult a doctor. Here at My concierge, MD, the best doctors are always ready to support you the best way. Follow their guidelines, and you will feel better in no time.
Subclavian Steal Syndrome
The subclavian steal syndrome is quite rare. In this syndrome, the vessels through which your blood flows in the heart get blocked or narrowed. As a result, the flow of blood is affected.
If you are affected by the syndrome, you might notice the following symptoms-
- Claudication
- Syncope
- Occipital headache
- Vertigo
- Dizziness
- Muscle wasting
- Finger gangrene
Though the syndrome sounds scary, it is pretty simple for the doctors to diagnose, especially here at My Concierge, MD. Your doctor would do the following for a thorough diagnosis-
- Check your medical history to look for previous correlated heart diseases
- Examine your vertebral and carotid blood circulation using doppler ultrasound
- IPPA Assessment (Inspection, Palpation, Percussion, and Auscultation)
- Radiographic contrast angiography
- Magnetic resonance angiography
Treatment
Treatment options usually depend on the underlying condition causing dizziness when raising arms.
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Low Blood Pressure
Managing low blood pressure requires both medication and lifestyle modification. Remember that only one is not enough – pay attention to both for a healthier life.
Medications
You might need medicines to maintain your everyday life in case of higher severity. If you require medication, your doctor can prescribe you to take the following drugs-
Lifestyle Modifications
If you have low blood pressure, that treatment is pretty straightforward. You should consult your doctor if you face severe issues due to low blood pressure. Otherwise, you can follow some basic guidelines for your day-to-day life and stay healthy.
Some basic guidelines may include-
- Drink lots of fluids that are nonalcoholic
- Increase the diet with sugar
- Avoid alcohols
- Exercise regularly
- Avoid heavy lifting
- Avoid standing still for a long time in a place
- Try elevating your head as you sleep by using supports
Subclavian Steal Syndrome
This syndrome requires you to consult your doctor for treatment. There are several ways to treat it.
Pharmacological Treatment
- Vasodilator medications such as calcium channel blockers and nitroglycerin
- Anti-hypertensive drug
- Aspirin or other Anti-platelets agents
- Anti-cholesterol drugs
Surgical Treatment
- Connective surgery
- Surgical, vascular bypass surgery of the narrowed artery
- Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty
- Extra anatomical revascularization surgical correction procedure
Final Words
Dizziness when raising arms can be a sign of several complications. Low blood pressure is the most common. In severe cases, it can also result from Subclavian Steal Syndrome. Diagnosis is possible with the help of the best doctors from My concierge, MD.
With the holistic help of expert doctors at My Concierge, MD, you will be able to treat the problem and get back to your healthy, happy life. So, enough worrying – consult your doctor, and let’s get back to the action-paced daily life.
