Low blood pressure, generally defined as a reading below 90/60 mmHg, can often be raised through a combination of dietary changes, increased fluid intake, physical techniques, and in some cases medication. Unlike high blood pressure, which almost always needs treatment, low blood pressure only requires action when it causes symptoms like dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting, or fatigue. If your numbers run low but you feel fine, there’s usually nothing to fix.
If you do experience symptoms, the strategies below can make a meaningful difference, and most of them start working within days.
Increase Your Salt and Fluid Intake
Salt is the single most effective dietary tool for raising blood pressure because sodium pulls water into your bloodstream, expanding your blood volume. For people with orthostatic disorders (conditions where blood pressure drops when standing), medical societies recommend between 2,400 and 4,000 mg of sodium per day, which is roughly 6,000 to 10,000 mg of table salt. That’s significantly more than the 2,300 mg sodium limit recommended for the general population. Some specialists push even higher for specific conditions like POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), recommending up to 4,800 mg of sodium daily.
A practical approach is adding 1,000 to 2,000 mg of sodium to your diet three times per day through salted foods, broth, or electrolyte drinks. One study found that roughly 2,400 mg of supplemental sodium per day improved standing tolerance and blood vessel function within two months in people who fainted from positional changes.
Fluid intake matters just as much. Aim for 2 to 3 liters of water per day. Research published in Circulation found that drinking just 500 mL (about 16 ounces) of water improved the ability to stand without dizziness by an average of 5 minutes. That’s a quick intervention you can use before situations where you know you’ll be on your feet for a while.
Use Physical Counter-Maneuvers
When you feel lightheaded or sense your blood pressure dropping, specific body positions can push blood back toward your heart and brain within seconds. The American Heart Association recommends these techniques:
- Cross your legs and squeeze. While standing or lying down, cross your legs and tense your leg, abdominal, and buttock muscles simultaneously.
- Squat down. Lowering into a squat compresses the blood vessels in your legs and forces blood upward. Tense your lower body and abdomen while squatting, then stand slowly once symptoms pass.
- Arm tensing. Grip your hands together, interlocking fingers, and pull in opposite directions with maximum force. This raises blood pressure quickly through full-body muscle activation.
- Clench your fists. Make a tight fist, with or without an object in your hand, and hold the contraction.
These aren’t permanent fixes, but they can prevent a faint in the moment and buy you time to sit down, drink water, or change position.
Wear Compression Stockings
Blood tends to pool in the legs when you stand, and for people with low blood pressure, that pooling can pull enough volume away from the brain to cause dizziness. Compression socks or stockings counter this by gently squeezing the blood vessels in your lower legs. According to Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Luke Laffin, they typically raise blood pressure by about 5 to 10 mmHg, which can be enough to eliminate symptoms for people on the borderline.
Waist-high compression garments work better than knee-high socks because they also prevent pooling in the thighs and abdomen. For the best results, put them on before getting out of bed in the morning, when blood pressure tends to be at its lowest.
Adjust How and What You Eat
Large meals, especially carbohydrate-heavy ones, can cause blood pressure to drop sharply after eating. This is called postprandial hypotension, and it’s particularly common in older adults. The mechanism is straightforward: digestion diverts blood flow to your gut, and if your body can’t compensate by tightening blood vessels elsewhere, your blood pressure falls.
Three changes help prevent this. First, eat six smaller meals throughout the day instead of three large ones. Second, reduce the carbohydrate content of each meal, since carbs trigger the strongest digestive blood flow response. Third, avoid alcohol with meals, as it dilates blood vessels and compounds the drop. If you notice you consistently feel dizzy or foggy 30 to 60 minutes after eating, postprandial hypotension is a likely culprit.
Avoid Heat Exposure
Hot showers, baths, and saunas cause blood vessels to open wide, which lowers blood pressure further. Your heart rate can climb to 100 to 150 beats per minute as your body tries to compensate. For someone already running low, this can trigger lightheadedness or fainting.
If you enjoy hot showers, keep them shorter and cooler than you normally would. For saunas, UCLA Health recommends starting with 5 to 10 minute sessions and building up slowly, with a hard cap of 20 minutes. Having water nearby and standing up slowly afterward reduces risk. On hot days, stay hydrated and avoid prolonged standing in direct sun.
Medication Options
When lifestyle changes aren’t enough, two medications are commonly prescribed. The first works by tightening blood vessels directly, raising blood pressure through increased resistance in arteries and veins. It has a short duration of about three hours, so it’s typically taken multiple times per day and can be timed around activities where you need to be upright.
The second is a steroid that helps your kidneys retain sodium and water, effectively expanding your blood volume over time. It’s usually taken once daily at a low dose. Your doctor may start with one or combine both depending on your symptoms and how well you respond.
These medications are prescription-only and require monitoring, since raising blood pressure too much (especially while lying down) creates its own risks.
Symptoms That Need Immediate Attention
Occasional lightheadedness when standing up quickly is common and usually harmless. But certain symptoms alongside low blood pressure point to something more serious. A sustained systolic reading below 90 mmHg combined with cold or clammy skin, confusion, rapid shallow breathing, or a weak and fast pulse can indicate shock, where organs aren’t getting enough blood flow. A heart rate above 100 beats per minute paired with a very narrow gap between your systolic and diastolic numbers (the top number and bottom number being close together) is another warning sign. Reduced urine output and prolonged capillary refill (press a fingernail and it takes more than 2 seconds for color to return) suggest your circulation is compromised beyond what lifestyle measures can address.