If your blood pressure runs low (below 90/60 mmHg), several practical strategies can bring it up, from increasing salt and fluid intake to wearing compression garments and using specific body movements. Some people naturally run on the lower side without problems, but if low blood pressure is causing dizziness, fatigue, fainting, or blurry vision, these approaches can make a real difference.
Increase Your Salt Intake
Salt is one of the most effective tools for raising blood pressure, which is exactly why people with high blood pressure are told to avoid it. Sodium pulls water into your bloodstream, increasing blood volume and pushing pressure up. For people with orthostatic disorders (where blood pressure drops upon standing), medical guidelines from the American Society of Hypertension recommend 2,400 to 4,000 mg of sodium per day. Some specialists push that even higher, to 4,000 to 8,000 mg daily, depending on the severity of symptoms.
For context, the average American consumes about 3,400 mg of sodium per day, so if you’re on the lower end of intake, you may need to deliberately add salt to meals, snack on salted nuts or olives, or drink broth. One study found that adding roughly 2,400 mg of supplemental sodium per day for two months improved standing tolerance and blood flow regulation in people who fainted from positional blood pressure drops. If you’re unsure whether you’re getting enough, a 24-hour urine sodium test can give your doctor a clear picture.
Drink More Fluids
Dehydration directly lowers blood volume, which lowers blood pressure. When your body doesn’t have enough water circulating, there’s simply less fluid for your heart to pump, and pressure drops. Increasing water intake is one of the simplest interventions, and it pairs well with higher salt intake since the sodium helps your body retain that extra fluid rather than just flushing it out.
There’s no single “magic number” for daily water intake, but most people with symptomatic low blood pressure benefit from drinking consistently throughout the day rather than waiting until they feel thirsty. Keeping a water bottle nearby and sipping regularly is more effective than drinking large amounts at once. Avoid alcohol, which dilates blood vessels and worsens low blood pressure.
Wear Compression Garments
When blood pools in your legs and abdomen, less of it returns to your heart, and blood pressure falls. Compression stockings counteract this by squeezing the veins in your lower body and pushing blood back up toward your core. Johns Hopkins Medicine recommends starting with 20 to 30 mmHg compression stockings. If those feel too tight or are hard to get on, drop to 15 to 20 mmHg. If they’re not doing enough, move up to 30 to 40 mmHg, though that level can be difficult to pull on, especially for people with flexible joints.
Waist-high stockings or abdominal compression garments work better than knee-high socks because blood pools in the abdomen too, not just the legs. The key is wearing them during the day when you’re upright, not at night while sleeping.
Use Physical Counter-Pressure Maneuvers
When you feel a blood pressure drop coming on (the telltale lightheadedness or graying vision), certain body movements can raise your pressure within seconds by squeezing blood out of your muscles and back toward your heart. The American Heart Association recommends several:
- Leg crossing with muscle tensing: Cross your legs and tighten your leg, abdominal, and buttock muscles simultaneously. You can do this standing or lying down.
- Squatting: Lower yourself into a squat, tensing your lower body and abdomen. Stay down until symptoms pass, then stand slowly.
- Isometric hand grip: Grip your opposite hands with interlocked fingers and pull in opposite directions as hard as you can.
- Fist clenching: Squeeze a fist at maximum effort, with or without something in your hand.
These maneuvers work as quick rescues. They won’t fix chronically low blood pressure, but they can prevent a faint when you feel one coming.
Get Up Slowly
One of the most common triggers for a blood pressure crash is standing up too quickly. When you go from lying down to upright, gravity pulls blood into your legs, and your body needs a moment to compensate by tightening blood vessels and increasing heart rate. If that reflex is sluggish, your blood pressure drops and you feel dizzy or faint.
The fix is straightforward: when getting out of bed, sit on the edge for a full minute before standing. Flex and pump your calf muscles while still seated to push blood upward. When you do stand, pause before walking. If you feel woozy, squeeze your thighs together and tighten your stomach muscles, or march in place. Elevating the head of your bed slightly can also help by keeping your body partially upright overnight, which trains your circulatory system to handle positional changes better in the morning.
Adjust How You Eat
Blood pressure commonly drops after meals because your body diverts blood flow to the digestive system. This is called postprandial hypotension, and it’s especially common in older adults. Large meals trigger it more than small ones. Harvard Health Publishing recommends switching from three standard meals to six or seven smaller ones spread throughout the day.
What you eat matters too. White bread, white rice, potatoes, and sugary drinks move quickly from the stomach to the small intestine, and that rapid transit worsens the post-meal blood pressure drop. Replacing those with slowly digested foods like whole grains, beans, protein, and healthy fats keeps your blood pressure more stable after eating. Drinking water with meals also helps, while alcohol makes it worse.
Medications for Persistent Low Blood Pressure
When lifestyle changes aren’t enough, doctors can prescribe medications that raise blood pressure through different mechanisms. One commonly used option works by tightening blood vessels, particularly the veins, which reduces blood pooling in the legs and increases the pressure in your arteries. It’s typically taken two or three times a day, with the last dose at least four hours before bedtime to avoid raising blood pressure too high while you’re lying down.
Another medication helps your kidneys retain sodium and water, expanding your blood volume. Both require monitoring because the goal is to raise your standing blood pressure without pushing it too high when you’re resting. These aren’t first-line treatments for mild symptoms, but for people who faint regularly or can’t function due to dizziness, they can be significant.
What Causes Low Blood Pressure
Understanding why your blood pressure is low helps you target the right fix. Dehydration, blood loss, and certain medications (especially blood pressure drugs, antidepressants, and medications for prostate conditions) are common culprits. Heart conditions, endocrine problems like adrenal insufficiency, and nervous system disorders can also drive blood pressure down. Prolonged bed rest weakens the reflexes that maintain blood pressure when you stand.
Some people simply have constitutionally low blood pressure, meaning their numbers always run below 90/60 without any symptoms. This is generally harmless and doesn’t need treatment. The concern arises when low pressure causes symptoms like confusion, fainting, persistent fatigue, blurry vision, or heart palpitations. A sudden drop in blood pressure that causes cold, clammy skin, rapid shallow breathing, or confusion can indicate shock, which is a medical emergency.