The sexes don’t feel pain the same way
nature.com
The sexes don’t feel pain the same way
1–10 of 146 posts
Re: The sexes don’t feel pain the same way
#2The article writes that in 2016 the “National Institutes of Health (NIH) made it a requirement for grant applicants to justify their choice of the sex of animals used in experiments.” I can only imagine that some people took this as yet another example of political correctness creeping in to the public sphere. Hopefully the results from this study helps
to bolster more scientific studies using diverse populations (including more funding for larger studies that might be required for more statistical significance).
Re: The sexes don’t feel pain the same way
#3The article writes that in 2016 the “National Institutes of Health (NIH) made it a requirement for grant applicants to justify their choice of the sex of animals used in experiments.” I can only imagine that some people took this as yet another example of political correctness creeping in to the public sphere. Hopefully the results from this study helps to bolster more scientific studies using diverse populations (in…
> including more funding for larger studies
You won't find any experts to disagree with you on this part.
Re: The sexes don’t feel pain the same way
#4If the physiology of pain differs between the sexes, does the subjective experience of pain differ too? Even at the same reported severity? For all we know, if a female and a male both identify a color as blue, the two sexes may be experiencing different colors and attaching it the same label. Same goes for pain.
Imagine what a boon a technological fix for this could be. If we could record the quality and quantity of pain felt by one organism and play it back at high fidelity for another organism, it could be an effective torture device ... but also a way to promote empathy across sexes, races, and species.
But it's probably a fix that will remain a fantasy permanently, because if physiology underlies the difference, one organism would have to physiologically become something else in order to experience the same pain as an other. Probably we're stuck with the same old limited channel for communicating subjective experience: art.
Re: The sexes don’t feel pain the same way
#5If the physiology of pain differs between the sexes, does the subjective experience of pain differ too? Even at the same reported severity? For all we know, if a female and a male both identify a color as blue, the two sexes may be experiencing different colors and attaching it the same label. Same goes for pain. Imagine what a boon a technological fix for this could be. If we could record the quality and quantity of…
This is the premise of one of the short stories in Black Mirror's "Black Museum" episode (written by Penn Jillette, actually). A doctor uses it as a diagnostic device and then, as you might expect, the plot turns dark. It's very well done.
Re: The sexes don’t feel pain the same way
#6My girlfriend seems to handle "direct" pain, like hitting stuff, getting cut or back pain, compared to me. Most times she just keeps going without uttering much at all.
But she's significantly worse at dealing with cold, heat and high brightness. One thing is that her body may be worse at regulating temperature, but she can't stand going out in the cold even for a few minutes unless she's dressed like she's visiting one of the poles.
Me on the other hand have little problem handling the discomfort of being cold or too hot. I also have no issue handling very bright sunny days without sunglasses, while she cannot.
Writing this it seems tempting to view it in an evolutionary perspective... giving birth is a very painful event one must endure, and when hunting it certainly helps to keep pushing even though you're too cold or too hot... or maybe it's just the way the two of us are wired up.
Re: The sexes don’t feel pain the same way
#7The article writes that in 2016 the “National Institutes of Health (NIH) made it a requirement for grant applicants to justify their choice of the sex of animals used in experiments.” I can only imagine that some people took this as yet another example of political correctness creeping in to the public sphere. Hopefully the results from this study helps to bolster more scientific studies using diverse populations (in…
> including more funding for larger studies You won't find any experts to disagree with you on this part.
In many cases it's scientists who decide if existing funding is used on many small studies or few large ones, and which studies in particular. In that sense it is important to evaluate if maybe having fewer studies with better statistical significance would be better.
Re: The sexes don’t feel pain the same way
#8My girlfriend seems to handle "direct" pain, like hitting stuff, getting cut or back pain, compared to me. Most times she just keeps going without uttering much at all. But she's significantly worse at dealing with cold, heat and high brightness. One thing is that her body may be worse at regulating temperature, but she can't stand going out in the cold even for a few minutes unless she's dressed like she's visiting…
So uhm, I’m a male reporting in with my anecdata. I am just like your girlfriend.
Can’t tolerate extreme temperatures (especially cold), but have a fairly high tolerance for physical pain compared to what’s normal I think.
And I am INFAMOUS for needing sunglasses. Whenever I’m visiting my folks, they know it’s the thing I’ll complain about if I’ll be in the sun and my mom will usually have bought sunglasses just for me.
Re: The sexes don’t feel pain the same way
#9My girlfriend seems to handle "direct" pain, like hitting stuff, getting cut or back pain, compared to me. Most times she just keeps going without uttering much at all. But she's significantly worse at dealing with cold, heat and high brightness. One thing is that her body may be worse at regulating temperature, but she can't stand going out in the cold even for a few minutes unless she's dressed like she's visiting…
Anecdotal, but my relationship is the opposite. I can take physical blows and shrug them off, to which my partner seems relatively sensitive.
On the other hand, I perceive I'm much more sensitive to light and temperature. Indeed I literally can't hold her coffee cups, drink hot drinks and soup, or hold microwaved meals because of pain overload which she can without thought. And I assure you this isn't because of conditional exposure or anything on her behalf to harsh conditions, she's a relatively delicate creature.
Growing up, I often wondered whether there's just a greater deal of variation in pain and sensory perception in the population than generally accepted. I remember watching people jump into cold pools during swimming carnivals, and I had to seriously wonder whether those people were experiencing what I was experiencing, because, while I'm being a bit melodramatic here, you might as well ask me to consider putting my hand in a fire, and some of these people I swear were amidst revelling in it...
Re: The sexes don’t feel pain the same way
#10My girlfriend seems to handle "direct" pain, like hitting stuff, getting cut or back pain, compared to me. Most times she just keeps going without uttering much at all. But she's significantly worse at dealing with cold, heat and high brightness. One thing is that her body may be worse at regulating temperature, but she can't stand going out in the cold even for a few minutes unless she's dressed like she's visiting…
Anecdotal, but my relationship is the opposite. I can take physical blows and shrug them off, to which my partner seems relatively sensitive. On the other hand, I perceive I'm much more sensitive to light and temperature. Indeed I literally can't hold her coffee cups, drink hot drinks and soup, or hold microwaved meals because of pain overload which she can without thought. And I assure you this isn't because of cond…
Pain management definitely differs from person to person. It’s clearly varying within just yourself from one type of pain to another. I’ve experienced differences between pains as well.