Why do you instantly feel less dizzy when you lie down on your side?
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I don’t get dizzy like ya once or twice when I was growing up. But I haven’t felt dizzy in years .
Tbh Iv never experienced the so dizzy I needed to lie down
I’m interpreting dizzy as lightheadedness rather than actual spinning feeling so apologize if this isn’t the answer you’re looking for. Dizziness/vertigo is a little different.
A lot of the time when people feel lightheaded it is because they are dehydration or have low blood pressure. Our bodies are always fighting against gravity in order to pump blood up to our brains and these both make that harder.
Being dehydrated affects the amount of fluid volume in your body, less fluid means less blood.
Picture a bottle that is half full of water. If you think of it like your body, top if the bottle is your head, bottom is your feet, then when the bottle is standing upright there won’t be any water at the top. If you lay it on it’s side, gravity isn’t a problem anymore and the water (blood) can now reach the top of the bottle (head/brain)
Having low blood pressure reduces our body’s power to pump that blood. Think about how far a hose sprays when you turn it on. If you have a hose turned on low, pointing straight up in the air, the water will only reach a certain height. If you use your finger to cover half of the opening of the hose, the water pressure increases since there is the same amount of water but now coming through a smaller space so the water will now spray much higher. Increasing blood pressure can help with dizziness because it helps your blood travel more efficiently without having to change the volume of blood.
Laying down will help with this reason too. When we physically lower our heads (specifically to below our hearts, since that is where the blood is being pumped from) by laying down or putting our head between the knees, etc. our body is able to stop fighting gravity and it becomes easier to get the blood to our head and power our brain which is what stops the lightheaded feeling.
This is why sometimes when we feel lightheaded we will pass out. This automatic response is your body’s way of protecting itself. Our body knows that if we pass out and lay flat on the floor, it will be easier to pump blood to our heads than it will be if we continue standing.
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