Women More Sensitive to Pain Than Men

healthday.com ^

[chance33_98]

Women More Sensitive to Pain Than Men

But study didn't find any racial differences in pain thresholds

THURSDAY, April 1 (HealthDayNews) -- Blacks and whites have about the same sensitivity to pain, but women appear to be more sensitive to it than men.

That's what Duke University researchers report in the April issue of the Journal of Pain.

"Many pain medications are addictive and have unpleasant side effects, so it's important for physicians to be able to understand exactly how much pain their patients are experiencing," lead researcher and psychologist Dr. Tavis Campbell said in a prepared statement.

He conducted the study while at Duke; he's now at the University of Calgary in Canada.

"This research supports well-established findings of slightly higher sensitivity to pain among women compared to men, but revealed no difference between whites and African-Americans," Campbell said.

Previous research and anecdotal evidence have suggested blacks are more sensitive to pain than whites. Campbell suggested pain assessment procedures may be responsible for such racial differences in pain sensitivity.

His study included 76 men and 59 women aged 25 to 45; 72 were black, the rest white. A blood pressure cuff was inflated on the arm of each study participant and left inflated for several minutes. That created an aching sensation. The participants rated their pain according to standard pain rating scales, which gauge both the intensity and the unpleasantness of the pain.

[Senator Pardek]

I know a female bodybuilder who can bench press more than I can. Ergo - females, on average, can bench press more than men - Q.E.D.

BTW - there's a physiological reason why females are affected more than males when it comes to cold temperatures. Quick - who can explain it?

[cripplecreek]

It doesn't make sense to me or the wife. My wife is a P.A. and says she was taught that women have a much higher threshold of pain to deal with the pain of childbirth.

[jackbill]

Duh!

[onyx]

I just asked my medical doctor husband what he
thought about the finding of this rather bogus research.

This one line from the article told him all he needed:

"His study included 76 men and 59 women aged 25 to 45; 72 were black, the rest white."

This isn't a study, it is not even a decent sampling.

[Miss Marple]

Smaller body size may account for it. however, there are studies which indicate than women are LESS likely than men to succumb to hypothermia.

[NYC GOP Chick]

BTW - there's a physiological reason why females are affected more than males when it comes to cold temperatures. Quick - who can explain it?

It's not necessarily a fact, but *if* it is true, then it probably has something to do with reproduction and maintaining the proper body temperature when a fetus is in there.

[templar]

Tell me that men deal with cramps and labor pains.

If I read the article right, the study indicates that that degree of pain wouldn't bother a man very much. Maybe not even be noticed.

[jackbill]

That's what Duke University researchers report in the April issue of the Journal of Pain.

SNIP

He conducted the study while at Duke; he's now at the University of Calgary in Canada.

"This research supports well-established findings of slightly higher sensitivity to pain among women compared to men, but revealed no difference between whites and African-Americans," Campbell said.

Who funded this "research" at Duke? NIH? NSF?

If there were "well established findings", why was someone wasting more money on this study?

If the original researchers were men and if they were married, they would not have needed to look further.

[codyjacksmom]

My house is the same way. The men I know are BIG babies when it comes to any little boo boo's or even a sniffle.

[ArrogantBustard]

Don't come bellyachin' to me 'cause you married a wuss. From where I'm looking, if somebody's whining about the weather being too (cold|hot|moderate), the shoes being too (loose|tight), the poor aching body parts, etc. ad idiotam, I can guaran-Kerryin'-tee you one thing: the whiner has two X chromosomes. The XY crowd just soldiers on ... Sometimes, I think I married the only non-whining female homo sapiens on the planet.

OBTW, the plural of "anecdote" is not "data". That's one of the first things we teach scientists. I guess you missed that.

[NYC GOP Chick]

there are studies which indicate than women are LESS likely than men to succumb to hypothermia.

Because we're smart enough to know when to come in from the cold! :D

[madison10]

Major guess: Women have a greater water to solid mass ratio? Connected with the reason we don't perspire as much?

[shaggy eel]

Demonstrate your opinion with some anecdotal evidence. I have.

,,, you actually went way past that. You told us you have a husband. How did someone like you manage to get one?

[ArrogantBustard]

Some folks are kinky that way ... ;'}

[Shepster]

You are assuming that all tooth extractions have the same amount of pain. I had my 4 wisdom teeth (NOT impacted) pulled and bled a lot for several days with plenty of pain and went to work and had to be sent home for several days because I went back to work the same day, but my 16 year old daughter had her's pulled and it barely bleed or hurt and she went to school the next day.

It's the same with labor pains. Some are worse than others. My wife handled it much better the first time than the second. But given the same amount of pain on the whole most men will handle it better. Saying how men would handle labor or menstrual cramps cannot be proven since we do not experience them.

[jackbill]

BTW - there's a physiological reason why females are affected more than males when it comes to cold temperatures. Quick - who can explain it?

Does it have to do with frigidity?

[Miss Marple]

No, I know full well that I don't have data, which is why I talked about anecdotal evidence. I haven't done a study, nor do I intend to do one.

And as for my husband...well, I have stories from several friends, my brother, my son, my grandson, and my nephews.

Nothing has convinced me that men tolerate pain better than women.

My husband isn't a wuss. It is simply that his pain threshhold is lower than mine. I have ONE sister out of three who is like him. The rest are like me.

[Senator Pardek]

Actually, it goes thus - women have a higher fat/muscle ratio than men - fat takes up more space than muscle per lb., so a 150 lb. woman would have more surface area of skin than a 150 lb. man. Therefore - there's more sq. inches of skin to release heat.

[squidly]

Every guy I've known has been a big baby when it comes to pain. They get a little sniffle in their nose and have to lay in bed all day being mothered.

Sounds like you've got a bunch of sissy girly-men in your life. My suggestion would be to get out of California.

[Miss Marple]

Well, aren't you a nice person! Thank you so much for your insult, which wasn't germain to the discussion.

Here, let me apply some hot coals to your feet and see how long you can tolerate it. Then we will have some data.