Men have a lower threshold for pain than women

I think they do. Discuss!

I think they do. Discuss!

Men tend to be hyperchondriacs though. Hello! Women have childbirth, periods, all sorts of nasties, that we just get on with!

Apart from the fact its been scientifically proven then men have a higher pain threshold, what does it matter? What sort of advantage do you get being able to handle more pain?

I'm not trying to answer one of life's most profoundly deep questions, I just started a thread cos I was bored. Jeez.

Yeh, I just couldnt be arsed with it turning into another 'Women are better than men' thread, thats all :P

No way...it is different between different individuals but I doubt there is a clear difference between men and women. timeofyourlife- do you know?

hehe i'm only a second year, not a professor in all things medical

anyway, lots of people have looked into 'thresholds of pain' between the sexes and recent studies actually suggest that women have a lower threshold for pain than men!

a vague demonstration of this is that chronic pain conditions (eg arthritis) are up to seven times more common in women than in men. only things such as headaches and back pain are more common in men.

in answer to the question, no one really knows. if we think of it in the sense that we can block pain perception by either blocking the brain's interpretation of pain (e.g. morphine) or blocking the peripheral production of prostaglandins (a mediator of pain, eg. paracetamol) then we can relate that to varying hormone concentrations in women and how women can have changing perceptions of pain throughout life compared to men.

in a nut shell, studies are conflicting on this issue so we can't say scientifically either way.

Wow. Ok! Well maybe I should change it to women have more pain in their lives than men, whether or not they're better able to cope with it is not clear!

it's a good question - but to consider thesholds of pain we also need to consider "perceptions of pain".

e.g. what a man describes as painful may be described as "uncomfortable" by a woman.

the last i heard they were testing pain thresholds on lab. mice - the whole difference between the sexes thing is still new scientific stuff.

a key question that needs to be answered is actually sociological, not physiological - social conditioning or physical difference?

a vague demonstration of this is that chronic pain conditions (eg arthritis) are up to seven times more common in women than in men. only things such as headaches and back pain are more common in men.

So women go to the doctor with a pain caused by actual damage to the joints and that means they have a lower pain threshold than men.

Basically humans feel pain (so do animals), how your body responds to pain is individual and asking whether men or women have a higher pain threshold is like asking if men like chips more than women, or do women sleep better than men? totally useless question.