Women More Sensitive to Pain than Men, After All

The long held view is that women cope better with pain than men, and women are less sensitive to pain. However, recent research has knocked this on the head. A study of 11,000 US patients showed that women were more sensitive to pain for illnesses such as sinusitis and neck pain. The researchers called for more research to clarify how pain sensitivity varies with gender so that treatments ban match varying sensitivity. Most previous studies that have examined gender differences in simply the number of men or women that have reported what is painful and what is not. But most of these studies have not looked at the intensity of the pain, and the number of subjects in the study was too small to reliably detect if there was a significant difference between men and women. This article reviews the recent research outcomes.

The latest study included pain level reports from 11,000 patients who were asked to rate their pain on a scale of zero (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable). The researchers looked at the gender differences in reported pain levels for more than 250 conditions and diseases.

For almost every diagnosis, the average pain scores reported by women were higher than those reported by men. Overall the pain scores were 20 % higher for women than for men.

Women with pain from leg and knee strains and lower back pain reported consistently higher scores than men. Women also reported more pain in the sinuses (for sinus infections) and for neck ailments than for men.

It could be that women simply use a different scoring grade or number for the level of pain they reported compared with men. However, the researchers believe that the differences were real and that women did indeed feel higher levels of pain than men for the same conditions and ailments.

Previous research suggests a number of possible reasons for the gender differences, including genetics, hormones and psychological factors, which vary between women and men. It is also possible that the pain systems work differently in men and women.

One study showed that different parts of the brain are stimulated in response to pain in men and women. Although there was a lot of similarity, the female brain showed greater activity in areas associated with emotions. In men, the analytical areas and cognitive regions, associated with logical thought processing showed greater activity.

Women and men also appear to respond differently to danger. A research team in Poland, used magnetic resonance imaging to assess brain activity in various regions when men and women were shown imaged threatening danger. Men showed activity in areas associated with responses needed to confront or avoid danger - the so-called "fight or flight response". This involved various involuntary physiological functions, including heart rate and respiration. Women showed stronger activity in the left thalamus, which is an area which relays sensory information to the pain and pleasure centres of the brain and memories. Women therefore showed a more emotional response.

The conclusion from these studies is that pain needs to be managed differently in men and women.

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