Do women in fact have a higher pain threshold than men do?
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Yes we do. In fact, men feel LESS pain because they have half as many pain receptors as women, and yet for what us women go through, you don't hear us complaining half as much as men.
I think they do for the simple fact they deliver babies, most men would shoot themselves I think.
would a man go through the pain of pushing out a 9 lb baby out hi privates.
Yeah, so it seems. Oh well, I guess they can tote the suitcases, or push the car.
i think so..
I would say most do by the fact that women give birth.
Men seemed to be babied more when they are children and so when they grow up they act the same way. A little sniffle and they act as tho the hospital should be notified. But then a lot of men work out in the heat and very physical jobs that women would moan and groan about. I for one would not like being a roofer, in the heat or rain all day. No thank you. So I guess we do balance each other out.
just from living and being around males my answer would be yes
yes we do! not only do we give birth but each month we get cramps, headaches, etc etc.. we handle pain better then men do.. ask any tattoo place they will tell you too..
Yes, my mother once told me that if men could have babies there would not be as many children. In fact not only is giving birth painful but having a miscarriage is worse. Have you noticed there are a lot of men who hate going to the doctors just for a check up? They can give pain but can't take it.
yes we do.we suffer more pain than men do, but it does not shows cuz men wwants 'face' and act strong
I find it amusing that no scientific data has been offered, merely "men can't have babies so women must have a higher threshold." The inability to birth children has no relation to pain receptors. Just ask a woman who has had her uterus removed and can't have children. Here are some scientific studies and articles from Scientific America, Heart Healthy Women, and Daily News. Fact is, women have a lower threshold for pain, but both sexes experience pain differently.
News
December 18, 2002
Proteins May Be Key to Pain Differences between Men and Women
By Sarah Graham
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Science Image: man and woman
When it comes to pain, guys may be tougher than gals because they have more of a particular type of protein, new research suggests. Two studies published online this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences implicate proteins known as GIRKs in sex-based differences in pain sensitivity in mice. The findings could help researchers develop new gender-specific treatments for discomfort.
Previous research had shown that males tend to have a higher threshold for pain than females do and that medications affect the sexes differently, although the precise mechanism remained unclear. In the new work, scientists tested analgesic drugs on mice unable to produce the GIRK2 protein. Allan I. Basbaum of Rockefeller University and his colleagues found that male mutants had lower pain thresholds than normal male mice. Female mutants exhibited a tolerance comparable to that of their normal counterparts, however, suggesting that GIRK2 is responsible for sex differences in pain sensitivity. Male mutants also did not respond as favorably to two pain medications, clonidine and morphine, as the normal animals did.
In the second study, R. Adron Harris of the University of Texas at Austin and his colleagues tested varying types of palliative drugs on the mutant mice and found that they all activate GIRK2. The drugs still had some effect on the mutant mice, however, so other pain-mediating mechanisms are most likely at work as well.
HEALTH NEWS
Women Hurt More Than Men
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05 July, 2005 15:50 GMT
women men pain
Women experience a greater number of pain episodes across their lifespan than men, in more bodily areas and with greater frequency. Women tend to focus on the emotional aspects of pain, while men tend to concentrate on the physical sensations. Women feel pain more than men, more often and for longer, researchers have found. But despite the popular belief that men are wimps when it comes to dealing with pain, scientists discovered that men employ a problem-solving approach to get them back to work.
And women have been found to have a lower threshold to pain.
But several studies have revealed that not only do women report more pain during their lives, they also experience it in more parts of the body, more often and for a longer duration compared to men.
Researchers from the University of Bath said there appeared to be a difference in how men and women thought about pain, and anxiety may affect them in different ways.
The different strategies that men and women have in coping with pain may also actually make their experience worse.
Problem-Solving Approach
Dr. Ed Keogh, a psychologist from the university's Pain Management Unit, said men may take a more problem-solving approach to pain -- they think about what they can do to deal with the pain and get on with their lives.
By comparison women tend to be more emotional and focus on the pain and how it is making them feel, rather than thinking about how they can deal with it and get back to work, for example.
But the researchers said there is still more to learn about gender differences in coping with pain.
Dr. Keogh said, "What we have to start thinking about is why are there these differences and what are the treatment implications?"
One study carried out by the university involved asking volunteers to place their arm in a bath of warm water before plunging it into a container of ice water.
The researchers measured the pain threshold -- the point at which the participants first noticed pain -- and pain tolerance -- the point at which they could no longer stand the pain.
Women were found to have both a lower pain threshold and tolerance.
Emotional Aspects
Dr. Keogh said, "Until fairly recently it was controversial to suggest that there were any differences between males and females in the perception and experience of pain, but that is no longer the case.
"Research is telling us that women experience a greater number of pain episodes across their lifespan than men, in more bodily areas and with greater frequency.
"Unfortunately, all too often the differences between males and females are not considered in pain research or practice and instead are either ignored or statistically averaged."
The researchers suggested that while women tended to focus on the emotional aspects of the pain they experienced, men tended to concentrate on the physical sensations.
Chronic Pain in Children
The university is now investigating chronic pain in children.
The researchers said that as many as one in 50 children and adolescents live with severely debilitating and recurrent pain, but there is little information on how best to treat them.
Professor Chris Eccleston, director of the Pain Management Unit, said, "Many people used to think that chronic pain was a uniquely adult problem, but recent studies have shown that a number of children are severely affected by pain."
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