Does Dreaming Hurt?

I'm new here; brand new, and I had a couple questions. First off, I've been dreaming lucidly for several years due to a dream I had. I had never heard the phrase "lucid dream" until a couple weeks ago, and it surprised me greatly that it had such a large following: everyone I have spoken to usually thinks me strange for dreaming the way I do. I am assuming, from reading other topics, that this makes me a "natural."

My dreams first became lucid during a nightmare I had in which I fought against whatever was happening. Not literally, in the dream fighting, but me in my mind was pushing and forcing the dream to change. It was almost as if I knew that I was dreaming, but couldn't change it. After what seemed like forever of me suspended in the time of my dream, I was able to go back and change it. Ever since then, I have been able to do whatever I want in my dreams.

But here's the thing: when I dreamt that dream, it was painful for me as I changed it. I actually felt physical pain and when I woke up after I had changed the dream, I was crying. After that time I have not felt pain in the lucid dream process. I will, however, feel pain in my dreams. If I get hit in my dream, I feel the pain. If I fall or hurt myself for whatever reason, the pain lingers; even after I'm fully awake.

I want to know: does this happen to anyone else? And why does it happen? It's not that I really want it to stop happening; because I do know how to make myself not feel pain in the dreams, but they always turn out boring. I just want to know if anyone else feels the same.

-MemoriesofTomorrow

Pain isn't a physical thing. It's just something the brain makes you feel to warn you of a danger, So i'm guessing that it is quite normal to feel pain after the dream has ended, but I'm sure your brain would know that it's only a dream, and therefore stop giving out the pain signals the moment you wake up.

Or, it could be vice versa. If you are lying on your side, and say, there is something underneath the side of your stomach and you lie on it. The pain would enter your dreams and the moment you wake up, you still feel the pain from where you were lying.
One question though, How long does the pain last for? Is it a few minutes? Or the full morning?

I feel pain in my dreams too sometimes. I think the reason it happens is because your brain thinks the dream is real.

I once had a dream where I was being bit by dog (this by the way was my second lucid dream in my life, from my childhood) The dog grabbed on to my leg and I could literally feeling teeth in my leg, my leg tingled very painfully, like a burning sting combined with that tingling feeling you get when your leg is falling asleep. The dog wouldn't let go, but then I realized I was dreaming and made him disappear...I think I was like 11 years old or so.
My guess is that your brain assumes the dream environment is like waking life so it sends messages that simulate the five senses, this is what makes dreams so vivid, and this can usually be a positive thing as it makes the lucid experience all the more realistic and therefore fun.
I would try to avoid situation while lucid that cause pain. So what? You might not get to do fun stuff like jumping off cliffs, but trust me there are limitless possibilities to what you can do in a lucid dream, and plenty of things that don't have to involve pain, just be creative...and if you do feel pain maybe you should try healing it, maybe apply healing potions or magical bandages, or take a "dream painkiller"

Just some practical suggestions, I'm not sure if they'll work or not...

Hi MemoriesofTomorrow and welcome to Dv :D We seem to get more and more naturals each day. Ok in answer to your question about pain, yeah I get it too mostly in lucids but I've had non-lucids with pain as well. Infact I once dreamt (non-lucid) I had my tooth knocked out, I could even taste the blood. Infact it felt so real I jumped out of my bed and ran to the mirror.

Basically the whole "you can't feel in dreams" saying doesn't mean anything. People can feel in dreams!

Hope this helps :)

Thanks guys; this does help. Hyper0105, the length of time the pain lasts depends on what happened. For instance, I've been shot in my arm before in a dream, and the pain lasted all morning. Not a real pain, like a cut or a toothache, but almost the kind of pain that feels like you're in a bubble. (I don't know if I'm making sense to you guys. Have you ever slept during the day and went immediately from a waking state to a dream state? A noise, loud or not, can wake me up from that state, and it almost feels like a I was in a bubble - real and yet not real.) As long as I don't wake up feeling horribly in pain (which I haven't - that much pain, and my dream ends right then) then I think it's all good. I really just wanted to know, and yes, this helped.

One more question: if pain can be felt in dreams, then it's possible to feel more exhausted when one wakes from a dream, correct? Now, could that be because of a dream, or just because I didn't sleep right, or something. What I'm asking is, if I do something in a dream that expends energy, is that why I can be tired in the mornings?

Your brain is either faking you out during the dream, or something in real life is hurting you and it enters the dream. Welcome to the forums :)

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I had my tooth knocked out, I could even taste the blood. Infact it felt so real I jumped out of my bed and ran to the mirror.[/b]

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I did that once too :P