Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [pain]

An unpleasant feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli.

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Do either men or women have higher pain tolerance than the other?

Traditional folklore suggests women have a higher pain tolerance than men. I have seen a few sites suggesting otherwise. Naturally, plenty of anecdotal accounts of wussy men or women get tossed around whenever the subject is brought up which makes…
MrHen
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Can you tell if you're dreaming by pinching yourself?

Just yesterday I read how Tyrion tries to figure out if he's sleeping by pinching himself. And this seems to be a commonly held truth which often comes back in tales. But I'm not so certain. So can you tell if you're dreaming by pinching yourself?…
Carra
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Is the "dancing squid" odori-don dead?

In these videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug6pVj0Lq9w http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzj95jHuPiw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqphVlp2VJI (shows what I think is the brain) Soy sauce is poured onto a squid and its tentacles start waving…
user5194
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Is it impossible for a human to feel pain in a dream?

I am absolutely sure that humans can feel emotions in a dream. I've experienced some of the strongest anxiety in my life during nightmares. Sometimes the emotions were strong enough to persist in the real world - I remember once seeing my father at…
rumtscho
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Are lethal injections painless?

It is often claimed that lethal injections are a painless and humane method of applying the death penalty. Do lethal injections result in either no, or minimal, pain?
Casebash
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Does plucking the feathers from live and conscious birds cause them pain?

From: http://www.peta.org/issues/Animals-Used-for-Clothing/down-and-silk-birds-and-insects-exploited-for-fabric.aspx Plucking birds causes them considerable pain and distress. Is there any truth in the claim that birds (live and concious) do feel…
Aquarius_Girl
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Is "Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation" (TENS) effective?

I have recently become aware of TENS, but have yet to find any definitive evidence it is either a legitimate treatment or a full-blown pseudo-science. The closest was this BBC article: Some of the claims made for TENS could lead you to think it's…
Richard Stelling
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Do fish feel pain?

As a small kid, I was told that fish don't feel any pain when they bite into a fishing hook. I'm not sure if this was just something made up so I didn't feel sorry for the fishies. It appears that the controversy is quite widespread. Slate even had…
SirDuckduck
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Can headaches be relieved by massaging pressure points in the hands and feet?

There are a number of sites that claim that massaging a point in the webbing between thumb and index finger can relieve headaches. Livestrong.com: One pressure point that may help relieve your headaches is located in the webbing of your hand…
user7920
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Can a person submerge their hands in hot frying oil without adverse effects?

I've seen numerous videos claiming to show this without blistering effects, cringing pain, or skin burns as if it was a unique skill and not just trickery -- something anyone can do with practice, Hands In Boiling Oil: Indian Chef Fries Fish With…
Evan Carroll
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Instant, painless amputation via high-pressure steam

Several years ago, a friend of mine who had a long career as a commercial/industrial plumber related an anecdote about a colleague who was working at a power plant. He was in the vicinity of a high-pressure steam pipe, presumably part of the same…
user3490
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Does rubbing a dock leaf on a sting from a stinging nettle help to reduce pain?

I was always told this as a kid, and have been told it again recently. I'm skeptical, do they actually have any medicinal properties?
MSpeed
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Do red-headed people feel pain differently?

There is a long-standing belief among anaesthsetists that people with red hair need more anaesthetic. There even appears to be some evidence. to back up this widely held idea. Recently, though, a different study (reported by Gizmodo here) has…
matt_black
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Does reducing pain medication decrease healing time?

Can taking less pain medication (i.e. Vicodin, Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, etc) reduce the amount of time it takes an injury or surgery to heal? I heard this one a few times now. One was through a roommate when his doctor was surprised at how fast he…
Phyllostachys
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Do the recent changes in US drug policy correlate with an increase in people moving from prescribed opioids to heroin?

I was reading about the price of heroin on The Recovery Village and they say: Heroin pricing varies a lot depending on the region where it’s sold, and as drug cartels have seen people become addicted to expensive opiate pills, they’ve spoken to…
Cannabijoy
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