Dizzy when bending over: why it happens and when to see a GP

When you bend over and then straighten up, gravity pulls blood towards your legs and lower body, and your body normally adjusts within seconds to keep blood flowing to the brain. If that adjustment is a little slow, you feel lightheaded, woozy or briefly unsteady. The NHS dizziness page lists a sudden drop in blood pressure, known as postural hypotension, as the possible cause when dizziness comes on while standing or sitting up suddenly.

The NHS low blood pressure page explains that if you get symptoms when you stand up or suddenly change position, you may have a type of low blood pressure called postural hypotension. It adds that low blood pressure is a reading of less than 90/60mmHg, and that it does not always cause symptoms.

Bending over can also be a trigger for a different kind of dizziness, the spinning feeling of vertigo, because it involves moving the head. That has a different set of causes, covered below.

The NHS says that if you have other symptoms, they may give an idea of the cause, but not to self-diagnose. The table sets out causes the NHS pages describe and how they tend to present.

The NHS says blood pressure can vary through the day, and what you are doing and how you are feeling can affect it. Low blood pressure may simply be natural for someone fit and healthy, may run in the family, and can develop with age. It can also be linked to pregnancy, some medical conditions such as diabetes, and some medicines.

The NHS low blood pressure page suggests getting up slowly from sitting to standing, taking care getting out of bed by moving slowly from lying to sitting to standing, eating small, frequent meals, drinking more water, and avoiding standing or sitting for long periods, drinking too much alcohol, and bending down or changing posture suddenly. If symptoms keep coming back, the NHS suggests a GP can check blood pressure and consider changing medicines, or support stockings.

Blood pressure can be checked by a pharmacist, practice nurse, GP or at home with a monitor, according to the NHS.

It helps to describe the sensation precisely. Lightheadedness, as if you might faint, points towards blood pressure. A spinning feeling, as if the room or you are moving, is vertigo. The NHS vertigo page says vertigo feels like you or everything around you is spinning, enough to affect your balance, and that inner ear problems are its most common causes. These include BPPV, labyrinthitis, vestibular neuritis and Meniere's disease.

For ordinary vertigo the NHS suggests moving your head slowly and carefully, sitting down straight away when dizzy, turning on the lights if you get up at night and getting out of bed slowly. It also advises not bending over to pick things up and squatting instead, and not stretching the neck for high shelves. It says that if you drive, you must tell the DVLA about vertigo. A GP may do a simple test that involves moving quickly from sitting to lying, which can bring on symptoms.

The NHS advises seeing a GP if you are worried about your dizziness, if it will not go away or keeps coming back, or if you have difficulty hearing or speaking, ringing in the ears, double or blurred vision, numb or weak face, arms or legs, or other symptoms such as changes in pulse, fainting or collapsing, headaches or feeling sick.

For vertigo, the NHS says to ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if you also have a severe headache, are being sick or feel very sick, or have a very high temperature. It says to call 999 or go to A&E if vertigo comes with double vision or loss of vision, hearing loss, trouble speaking, or leg or arm weakness, numbness or tingling. The NHS dizziness page also lists fainting or collapsing, headaches and feeling or being sick among the reasons to see a GP.

Until dizziness has settled, the NHS says not to do anything that could be dangerous, like driving, climbing a ladder or using heavy machinery.