Postural hypotension, also called orthostatic hypotension, is when your blood pressure drops suddenly after you stand up from sitting or lying down. This can make you feel dizzy, lightheaded, or even cause you to faint. Normally, when you stand up, your body quickly adjusts to keep enough blood flowing to your brain and other organs. But with postural hypotension, this adjustment doesn’t happen fast enough.
After surgery, postural hypotension is quite common for several reasons. First of all, being in bed for a long time during recovery can make it harder for your body to respond quickly when you get up. Your muscles and nerves that help control blood pressure may not be as active as usual because they haven’t been used much while resting.
Another reason is that surgery often leads to some loss of fluids—either from bleeding or just not drinking enough water before or after the procedure. When there’s less fluid in your body (dehydration), there’s less blood volume circulating through your veins and arteries. This makes it easier for your blood pressure to drop when you change positions.
Medications given during or after surgery can also play a role. Painkillers and some drugs used for anesthesia relax the walls of the blood vessels or slow down the nervous system signals that help maintain normal blood pressure upon standing.
Sometimes people are weak after surgery too—their muscles may not be strong enough yet to help pump blood back up from their legs toward their heart as efficiently as before.
All these factors together mean that standing up too quickly after an operation can lead to dizziness or fainting spells due to postural hypotension. That’s why doctors and nurses usually encourage patients who have had surgery recently to get out of bed slowly and carefully at first—sometimes with someone helping them until they feel steady on their feet again.
It helps if patients drink plenty of fluids unless told otherwise by their doctor and try gentle movements while still in bed before getting up fully so their bodies have time readjust gradually rather than suddenly facing big changes in position all at once without warning signs beforehand like feeling dizzy right away upon rising upright abruptly which could result into falling over unexpectedly causing injury especially among older adults recovering from major procedures where risks are higher overall anyway due simply aging itself affecting how well our bodies cope under stress such situations present themselves more frequently than otherwise might occur naturally outside hospital settings where monitoring isn’t always available round clock basis unlike inside medical facilities staffed professionals trained handle emergencies promptly whenever needed most urgently indeed!
