Extra Nerve Fibers May Heighten Female Pain Perception - CME Teaching Brief - MedPage Today

New study out today about women and pain. Now...this information is just that...new, so futher studies will need to be done to check for validity...and to see if this is true in other parts of the body.

Always view new studies in the same light...with caution.

Barbara C. Phillips, NP
OlderWiserWomen™

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Oct. 27 - Women appear to have a greater density of nerve receptors than men, suggesting that they are constitutionally more sensitive to pain, researchers here reported.

Women averaged double the number of receptors compared with men in a certain area of facial skin, according to a study conducted by Bradon J. Wilhelmi, M.D., and colleagues at the Plastic Surgery Institute of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

If the results of this study are confirmed, it could represent a physiological explanation for previous reports that women have higher pain perception and lower pain tolerance compared with men, the researchers reported in the October issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

The basis of this phenomenon has not been understood, said the authors. Some have suggested the reason could be psychosocial, while others have offered biological explanations including differences in receptor action potentials, integration of central nervous system signals, and biochemical signaling properties.

You can read the rest here.