• The hot air makes you dizzy and light-headed
• Low blood pressure causes heat exhaustion
• Tips and tricks for sultry summer days
• How to keep your circulation stable in the heat
• Patients say they feel drunk
• Dizziness outpatient clinics offer professional help
• The emergency plan for an attack

For many people, summer is the most beautiful time of year - the sun is shining, it's mild, there's no need for a jacket. And there really is hardly anything more pleasant than taking a deep breath of the mild air on balmy evenings. However, it can sometimes be too much of a good thing - if the heat is too great, many people suffer from circulatory problems. Older people in particular often find the heat quite difficult.

The hot air makes you tired and dizzy

At the height of summer, the heat can quickly trigger symptoms - even in people who are otherwise completely healthy. When the weather is humid and muggy, chronically ill people, children and the elderly are particularly affected by weakness and dizziness. This is because the high humidity prevents the body from sweating properly and the organism from cooling down properly. The consequences: Nausea, headaches, circulatory problems and dizziness. Medication from the pharmacy can help.

Low blood pressure causes heat dizziness

The body's core temperature is 37 degrees, and the body has to maintain this temperature even in the heat. The blood vessels dilate, the blood is drawn from the inside of the body and circulates closer to the surface to cool the body. This lowers the blood pressure because there is now more blood in the vessels. For patients who already have low blood pressure and for other risk groups, heat becomes a burden - the circulation goes limp.

Tips and tricks for sultry summer days

The following tips will help you get through these days: Cool calf compresses provide quick refreshment. You should drink enough, because the heat and all the sweating make the blood thicker - 1.5 to two liters of water, spritzer or tea are recommended. Warm or even cold peppermint tea without sugar also helps to overcome the high temperatures. Also great: run cold tap water over your pulse on your wrists.

Athletes should postpone their activities until early in the morning or later in the evening when it is cooler. Exposure to the sun is not healthy anyway, it is better to go into the shade. A light diet with lots of fruit and vegetables is also good for a stressed body.

How to keep your circulation stable in the heat

• Plenty of water or tea keeps the blood flowing: Drink, drink, drink! To get through the hot days well, you should drink plenty of fluids. About 2 liters of still water or unsweetened lukewarm tea is ideal. A spritzer made from one third apple juice and two thirds water provides the body with valuable electrolytes, which it loses when sweating. Important: Don't drink anything iced - it puts a strain on your circulation and makes you sweat even more.
• Light food relieves the stomach and intestines: When it's very hot, hunger usually falls by the wayside. Nature has cleverly arranged this because heavy meals put a lot of digestive work on the stressed body. Fruit and vegetables, light salads and cold soups are better tolerated.
• Plant substances stimulate the circulation: In terms of nutrients, the body now needs iron, which is found in abundance in herbs, peas and pumpkin seeds, and chromium, which is found in berries, nuts and mushrooms, among other things. In acute cases, the concentrated power of plants helps against dizziness and nausea.
• A foot bath cools the body down: Liquid also helps from the outside: run cold tap water over the inside of your wrists. Or take a foot bath: brew 3 teaspoons of rosemary with 1 cup of water and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Pour in cool water and soak your feet.
• Smells stimulate and clear the mind: Scents have an invigorating effect. It doesn't have to be a bottle of smelling salts - simply drizzle a few drops of essential oil, such as rose petals, lavender or blood orange, onto a handkerchief and sniff it. No scent to hand? Then a sliced lemon will do.
  

Patients say you feel drunk

But it's not just the hot dog days that can cause dizziness. There are often other reasons for this phenomenon. It is usually caused by diseases of the inner ear with disorders of the center of balance. Almost one in three people suffer from this at some point in their lives. Sometimes everything spins, sometimes those affected sway. In most cases, dizziness disappears of its own accord. But in certain cases, it persists and makes life difficult for patients - often enough, doctors are unable to find an exact cause. It is extremely unpleasant when the ground shakes under your feet and your surroundings appear blurred. Those affected describe the nasty feeling as "like being drunk".

Dizziness outpatient clinics offer professional help

However, professional help is now available: many hospitals have a dizziness outpatient clinic. Here, specialists can make the correct diagnosis.

The emergency plan for an attack

1. When the dizziness announces itself, you should sit down or lie down. If there is no chair nearby: try to hold on to something.
2. The head should only be moved slowly so that the unpleasant feeling does not become even stronger.
3. Fix your eyes on a specific point in the distance for a long time. Do not close your eyes.
4. Stay calm and breathe deeply.
5. Spicy and sour foods are good antidotes: spread 1 tablespoon of mustard on a piece of wholemeal bread and chew it slowly. Or nibble on a few pickles.

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Quick help: What to do if you feel dizzy?
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Circulatory problems: Where they come from and what helps