Global Year Against Pain in Women

Press Office

Women and Pain Media Backgrounder

Overview

• Pain is complex and various factors influence how pain is experienced:
  • Physical factors include gender, body size, skin thickness and the method of stimulation
  • Psychological factors such as anxiety and depression may play a role in pain interpretation
  • Cultural and societal norms also impact the way pain is interpretated and communicated
• Chronic pain affects a higher proportion of women than men around the world; however, women are less likely to receive treatment
• There are many pain conditions which predominantly affect women, among them:
  • Fibromyalgia (FM)
  • Chronic pelvic pain (CPP)
  • Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
  • Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ)
  • Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
  • Osteoarthritis (OA)
  • Migraine headaches

Gender Differences

• Research has shown women generally experience more recurrent pain, more severe pain and longer lasting pain than men
• Studies suggest that hormonal variants and anatomical differences in the brain may explain this difference
  • Hormonal differences
    • Studies have shown that stress-induced analgesia (i.e. the body’s natural pain relief produced in response to stress) may be suppressed by the sex hormone estrogen
    • Changes in sex hormones have been found to moderate pain (e.g. menstrual cycle, pregnancy)
    • According to some studies, gender differences in pain prevalence appear to attenuate after the reproductive years
  • Brain function differences
    • Structural differences within the brain can affect how pain is processed; biologically women react to pain stimuli at a lower threshold than men

Cultural and Societal Implications

• Pain has significant health, socioeconomic and quality of life implications
• The prevalence of many types of pain is reported to be much higher in developing countries than industrialized nations
  • In some countries, women are less likely to be adequately treated than their male counterparts due to societal and cultural norms, economic status and governmental policies
    

Other Links:

International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Declares the Global Year Against Pain in Women: 'Real Women, Real Pain' Campaign Highlights the Suffering Caused by Disparities in Pain Recognition and Treatment in Women Around the World.  Read the full text, or download a copy, of the press release announcing the 2007-2008 Global Year.

The Global Year Against Pain in Women is already getting attention!  Visit our Events and Media Coverage page to see what is being said about Real Women, Real Pain and IASP.

Would you like us to inform you of changes and developments in the Global Year?  Complete our online contact information form to register to receive periodic updates on the Real Women, Real Pain campaign.