Light-headedness (near syncope) is a sense that one is about to faint. Fainting (syncope) is a sudden, brief loss of consciousness during which the person falls to the ground or slumps in a chair followed by a return to consciousness. The person is motionless and limp and usually has cool legs and arms, a weak pulse, and shallow breathing.

Some people feel light-headed or dizzy before they faint. Others may have nausea, sweating, blurred vision or tunnel vision, tingling of lips or fingertips, chest pain, or palpitations. Less often, people faint suddenly, without any warning symptoms.

Seizures, which are a disturbance of the brain's electrical activity (see Seizure Disorders), and cardiac arrest, in which the heart completely stops beating (see Cardiac Arrest), can cause loss of consciousness but are not considered fainting. However, in some people who faint, muscles briefly jerk involuntarily, resembling a seizure.

Causes
A person cannot lose consciousness unless brain function is generally disturbed. This disturbance usually occurs because overall blood flow to the brain is reduced. Sometimes, however, blood flow is adequate but the blood does not contain sufficient oxygen or glucose (blood sugar), which the brain needs to function.

Blood flow to the brain can be reduced in several ways. Most often, the cause is something that interferes with the normal return of blood to the heart (and thus reduces blood flow out from the heart). Less often, the cause is a disorder that interferes with blood pumping (typically a heart disorder). Although strokes reduce blood flow to the brain, they only reduce flow to part of the brain. Thus, strokes rarely cause fainting except for the few strokes that involve the part of the brain that maintains consciousness.

The most common causes are: Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome, Strong emotion (such as fear, pain, or sight of blood), Coughing or straining to pass stool or urine, Prolonged standing, Standing up suddenly, Use of certain drugs, etc.

Herbal remedies can be used as supplements.
If a person faints suddenly, a few drops of peppermint oil dripped on a handkerchief can be held to cover the nose-this will immediately revive them. Once the person regains consciousness and comes to, an herbal tea made using ginger or licorice can be given to stimulate circulation in the body. A useful herbal tea can be made using a combination of herbs for use when people faint. Mix two tbsp. each of herbs like the mint, the rosemary, the lavender and some vanilla bark. Let this herbal mixture steep for about twenty minutes in three cups of boiling wine vinegar till the herbal essences have had a chance to escape into the liquid. The mixture must then be strained, and sealed in a bottle. To revive people from recurring fainting spells, dip a ball of cotton into this mixture and hold the cotton under the person's nose whenever he or she faints. This method of reviving a patient can be continuously used for three weeks with people who suffer regular fainting spells. People suffering from fainting spells can also benefit from drinking an herbal tea made of basil; the tea can help revive people who have fainted.