Women have lower pain threshold than men, study shows

WOMEN feel pain more than men, more often and for longer periods of time, researchers said yesterday.

Despite the popular belief that men are wimps when it comes to pain and the female experience of childbirth gives women the upper hand, scientists found that the opposite was true.

Several studies have now concluded 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 longer than 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.

Dr Ed Keogh, a psychologist from the university's Pain Management Unit, said men may take a more problem-solving approach to pain, meaning that they think about what they can do to deal with the pain and get on with their lives.

Women, on the other hand, may 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.

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.