Anne Truong MDMen's Sexual Health Doctor

Sweet Dreams and Erections: Understanding REM Sleep Reactions #youtubeshorts #shorts #morningwood

2 Sept 2023 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:51

A short YouTube clip (by Anne Truong MD) explaining that erections commonly occur during REM sleep. The speaker states this is normal and can be healthy; REM is when dreaming and deep sleep stages occur, and parasympathetic activation during REM increases blood flow (including to the penis), producing nocturnal erections. The speaker notes these erections are not necessarily caused by sexual dreams and may explain but are distinct from "morning wood."

Chapters

Get an erection. You got your mind and your penis gotta be relaxed. Interestingly, when you're asleep and when you're in rapid eye movement or REM sleep. Rem, that's when you get erection. And it's perfectly normal and actually healthy to get an erection during REM sleep. Because during REM sleep is when you truly are in deep sleep. Rapid eye movement, that's when you dream. So not necessarily when you have morning wood. Is it related to sexual dream? It could just be that you're in deep sleep stage. And when you're in deep sleep stage, you relax and the parasympathetic nervous system is activated and therefore you're getting more blood flow, particularly to your penis.