In 2020, Canadian neuroscientist Jeffrey Mogil reviewed in Nature Reviews Neuroscience the evidence that pain processing in men and women differs at the level of genes, molecules, cells and physiology. After reviewing more than 1,000 articles in the journal Pain, he found that the share of male-only studies fell from 80% to 50% between 2015 and 2019.
Why it matters for treatment
Mogil notes that in studies including both sexes, hypotheses were confirmed far more often in males than in females. In his view, this is because the hypotheses were developed from male data alone. This means some pain drugs in development may be less effective for women.
What this means for you
- Chronic pain is a real condition, not “oversensitivity”.
- If treatment isn’t helping, speak up to your doctor and look for other approaches.
- Pain treatment often involves not only medication but also movement, physiotherapy and psychological support.
Sources
- Mogil J. S. (2020). Qualitative sex differences in pain processing: emerging evidence of a biased literature. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 21. doi:10.1038/s41583-020-0310-6