The gendered differences of pain

Men and women respond to pain differently, according to new research published in the journal ‘Brain.’ Comparing how pain signals are transmitted to the brain via the spinal cord, researchers found that hormones significantly altered how women responded to pain. Exsurgo’s Chief Science Officer spoke on RadioNZ’s Nights with Bryan Crump about what this research means for how we treat and support chronic pain sufferers. “Historically, pain research has been exclusively carried out on men. Now that we know male and female bodies do in fact respond differently to pain, this research should be the springboard for a complete re-think of how women’s pain is research and treated. I think we can do better and we must do better.”