Women Feel More Pain Than Men

[Karlis]

* Women feel more pain and have a harder time coping with pain than men do.

* Pain management strategies of the future might be more individualized and gender-based.

Read more...

[Agent. Mulder]

Seems very, biased. Or feminist at times:

"they are more likely to have multiple sources of pain, and they are definitely neglected as it relates to treatment"

"Women are less tolerant of pain. Their pain lasts longer. And they are more likely to become disabled by it."

"They think, "Oh my God, this is the most terrible pain I've ever had. I can't stop thinking about it and there's nothing I can do," she said. "There is helplessness, magnification and rumination."

So, im not quite sure what to make of this though.

[Karlis]

Seems very, biased. Or feminist at times:

"they are more likely to have multiple sources of pain, and they are definitely neglected as it relates to treatment"

"Women are less tolerant of pain. Their pain lasts longer. And they are more likely to become disabled by it."

"They think, "Oh my God, this is the most terrible pain I've ever had. I can't stop thinking about it and there's nothing I can do," she said. "There is helplessness, magnification and rumination."

So, im not quite sure what to make of this though.

Mulder, did you read the following in the article?

"What I learned from all of my research is that you should treat women differently than men," Kelly said. "We have to get women to see this as something they can manage instead of it having some kind of power over them."

For years,

studies have suggested that women and men differ in how they experience pain

. As Kelly pulled together the literature, she found that those differences to be both real and dramatic.

A variety of chronic and painful conditions, for example, are far more common in women, including migraines, rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, and fibromyalgia -- which affects at least four times more women than men

. Women are less tolerant of pain. Their pain lasts longer. And they are more likely to become disabled by it.

"What's interesting is that

there are gender differences across a lot of different measures of pain

," said Beverly Thorn, a psychologist at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. "It holds for acute pain, experimental pain, recurrent pain like migraines, and chronic pain like in the lower back."

Hormones play a part, as many symptoms worsen around that time of the month

. Other biological differences come into play, too. Certain painkillers work better in males, at least in animal studies. And women experience more side effects from pain medicines.

Now, if Jennifer Kelly's research is corroborated by other studies, then there is a basis to her conclusions. That said, I have NOT looked for any research by her. I'm copy-pasting the article for input from UM readers, and your input is worth considering.

Regards,

Karlis

Edited August 13, 2010 by Karlis
Changed some phrases to italics, for emphasis

[Slorri]

I think that we should be sensitive to pain but not brood upon it an pity ourself.

[Agent. Mulder]

Yeah i read the whole thing. Thats why i posted this, because it seemed odd to me.

And i havent found anything else by them either.

[~TheBigK~]

Interesting that the article came from Discovery seeing as this did as well:

http://tv.gawker.com/5527517/mythbusters-proves-superiority-of-women-over-men-once-and-for-all-eternity

I realize it's not exactly the same and most people wouldn't consider it as reliable, but I just thought it was funny.

As for the article, I'm not sure what to think. Of course men and women deal with/handle pain differently, but when it comes to tolerance I think it's harder to tell. The men I know in my life though, I can say are not nearly as tolerant as most women.

[8th_wall]

I think babies would learn more from their mothers than from their fathers initially.

In order to produce approximately accurate intuitive responses based on what the mother thinks the baby needs then a mother would probably need to understand "feeling" in a greater degree of complexity than the father.

I would think it makes logical sense that on average women would "feel" more than men. However that does not include the entire human race obviously.

Since the feeling part of the brain evolved before the cognitive part it makes sense that intuition would manifest better through feeling. So a pain in the body somewhere that a man wouldn't normally feel a women would be able to identify easier. (Intense pain then also would have a greater degree of impact on a woman than a man on average)

[Michelle]

If women feel more pain than men then they should give birth and have periods.

[Power Lust]

Yeah i read the whole thing. Thats why i posted this, because it seemed odd to me.

And i havent found anything else by them either.

I think women experience pain just the same as men however they over react and get hysterical about the smallest of things which causes them to experience the pain harder.

[Horus Christos]

This contradicts what I've read before. I've heard that female prisoners/spies are much tougher to break because they can withstand pain better than men. Something about nature giving women more pain tolerance to withstand the birthing process.

[Still Waters]

If women feel more pain than men then they should give birth and have periods.

That's exactly what I was thinking

[Still Waters]

I think women experience pain just the same as men however they over react and get hysterical about the smallest of things which causes them to experience the pain harder.

The opposite way round more like. Men can be such big babies

[Slorri]

This contradicts what I've read before. I've heard that female prisoners/spies are much tougher to break because they can withstand pain better than men. Something about nature giving women more pain tolerance to withstand the birthing process.

How painful is it to have a child, one wonders?

[Dancingtiger]

Well when I had my son I felt like I was birthing a water melon. It feels like you are being twisted inside out, and that a part of you is not connected to what is going on. I felt with each rush of the major pain (near end) like I was pushing out my entire being. Organs and all, then they cut you...sometimes. I jumped from the shock of it, but did not feel it, weirdly enough. I was a foolish girl, no epidural, little drugs and none for birthing time. With in minutes of it being over you feel the biggest rush of euphoria, finally your own body gets into the game with the endorphine rush. I got up and walked with in half an hour of delivery. Much to the nurses dismay. My sons father fainted during delivery and strained a finger......... I heard about that finger for weeks. It was of course so pain filled he could do nothing with that hand. I on the other hand just had a baby, but I had to look out for both of them. The crying baby, and the crying man.

I think men might be able to handle regular pain better then a female, but not a visceral pain from deep inside. I think this from experience, like if I burn my finger on the stove, I will use cool water compress for hours before I get the nerve to let the actual nerves fray out the pain. He just does it right away, never bothering with cold water. Tho when he broke his collar bone he was a baby for weeks, whining and being a total pain in the ass.

It also depends on the person and their over all health.

Edited August 14, 2010 by Dancingtiger

[~TheBigK~]

This contradicts what I've read before. I've heard that female prisoners/spies are much tougher to break because they can withstand pain better than men. Something about nature giving women more pain tolerance to withstand the birthing process.

This makes sense to me. Women have to be able to tolerate at least that type of pain better than men. Like Dancingtiger said, a visceral inside kid of pain. Also, that is quite a birth story, kudos to you haha.

I think in the end though it mostly comes down to the individual, not the gender. But in my experience it seems like when guys get hurt around their girlfriend or wife, they milk it for all it's worth. Not that I wouldn't want to be taken care of, or take care of a guy if it called for it. When my boyfriend gets sick he's as pitiful as a little kid and I can't help but want to baby him. But at the same time if I accidentally scratch him or something he overdoes it and loves teasing me about it.

[Trolololol]

Women always get the biggest egos about childbirth, don't they?

That being said, I'm infinitely thankful I was born male, because it sounds awful.

[Slorri]

I'm sure it could be done with nitrous oxide, then it's a gas: "hi, hi, hi, hi... oh look, a liiiittle baaabyyy."

[TheSpoonyOne]

This makes sense to me. If I take two men, one has heavily defined muscles and the other does not, then I hit both in a specific area, the one with defined muscles will feel the pain less.

[danielost]

Seems very, biased. Or feminist at times:

"they are more likely to have multiple sources of pain, and they are definitely neglected as it relates to treatment"

"Women are less tolerant of pain. Their pain lasts longer. And they are more likely to become disabled by it."

"They think, "Oh my God, this is the most terrible pain I've ever had. I can't stop thinking about it and there's nothing I can do," she said. "There is helplessness, magnification and rumination."

So, im not quite sure what to make of this though.

women can tolerate more pain than men can.

[Black Hound]

So you are saying a woman would feel more pain if her head was removed than a man would? Seems sort a mute point. I doubt a man could go through childdbirth, according to several women I know.

Edited August 15, 2010 by Graveyard Hound

[kapsha]

This contradicts what I've read before. I've heard that female prisoners/spies are much tougher to break because they can withstand pain better than men. Something about nature giving women more pain tolerance to withstand the birthing process.

I once spoke with a deputy about his tasering experiences. He said the only time he ever saw someone literally not be affected by it was a petite woman. He said she was not on drugs or alcohol. He basically said she put up one Helluva fight. She was never knocked down by the voltage.

Another time I spoke with another law enforcement offical about his fighting experiences. He said the worst fight he was ever in with a violator was, you guessed it, a petite woman (not the same woman in the taser experience if you're wondering).

I've always heard that big things come in small packages...

[Oen Anderson]

I have heard my entire life that women have a higher tolerance for pain than men. Both my mother, who birthed ten children, and my wife who birthed three have said if a man had to go through that much pain they would pass out. I don't know if the evidence supports that. I agree it must depend on the individual. As for myself, my pain receptors don't work normal. When I touched a glowing hot stove burner I heard the sizzle and smelt the putrid smell of burnt flesh before my brain felt the pain. I know what you're thinking, "No brain, no pain." I have also been stabbed in the stomach twice, disemboweled once, shot in the chest which collapsed my lung,(this is supposed to be very painful), had my nose smashed, had my entire rib cage ripped open with a pruning tool. For all of this I refused pain killers. The nurses asked if I was against taking pain meds. I told them if I felt pain, I would ask for some pain meds, but I didn't feel very much pain. I could feel it, just not like a normal person apparently. I have experienced extreme heat, (140 degrees F) and extreme cold, (minus 37 degrees F), starvation, beatings, psychological torture, electric shock and falls from heights,(25-30 feet). But that's just me.

[Paracelse]

I think women experience pain just the same as men however they over react and get hysterical about the smallest of things which causes them to experience the pain harder.

I was thinking the same thing, but being a male, I didn't want it to be called misogynistic pig

[Paracelse]

The opposite way round more like. Men can be such big babies

Not all men.. many of us just don't dwell on pain

[ploppy]

I'd say it's more likely that pain tolerance and feeling is dependant on the individual. Women can sustain pain (if needed for many unfortunate reasons) just as long as men. It depends on the person.

Try having one of the worst mensturual cramps in your life, one that is pretty much crippling you into a fetal position when you have the chance and still pushing through it to go work on a construction site, where you to clamber around working all day. It's not fun, but you bear it for as long as you have too