Do men have a lower tolerance for pain than women?

Question

Seriously, you guys could never handle childbirth...

Answer 1

I agree. I could never push a baby out, but I do do many things that have gotten me hurt and I know many men who have had many surgeries that have cost them pain. I would have to say its a draw. BUT I am still not pushing that baby out.

Answer 2

Why is it that whenever some woman brings up a subject of pain tolerance she brings up childbirth. It's old and it's stupid.
I gave birth to five of me own and you don't hear me whining about it. For all five of mine I had it in the back and that doesn't tickle. Women are made to give birth and we are made to tolerate that kind of pain and incidentally the best part is when it comes sliding out. This is what I wish men could feel; nothing compares, because it feels wonderful.

Answer 3

Discussion

However, we found that total
immersion time was shorter for both blacks and
women, and that blacks and women reported
higher pain intensity and unpleasantness scores.
These racial and gender differences in pain
responses are consistent with other reports. In laboratory
settings [28–33] and in clinical investigations
[27,30,33,38,39] racial minorities have been
shown to report higher pain ratings and exhibit
lower pain tolerance when compared to nonminorities.
Women, as well, have been shown to
report greater pain sensitivity and exhibit lower
pain tolerance compared to men [40–42]. Therefore,
our findings confirm the existence of overall
racial and gender differences in laboratory pain
and raise questions as to why blacks and women
receive lower doses of pain medication in clinical
settings when, in fact, their pain experiences may
actually be worse than the pain experiences of men
or non-Hispanic whites.

Answer 4

Child birth isn't the most painful experience a human body can be put through, and yes, I've given birth(3 times). My observation? Man whacks himself on the thumb with a hammer, a colorful stream of invectives spew forth, followed by the thumb going in the mouth to either soothe it or stop the blood flow, then it comes out of the mouth for inspection and when it is deemed not broken, he picks up the hammer and finishes the job. Woman breaks her nail, she says something about it, and actually stops what she's doing to either fix it or some will cry because it hurts. Men are taught to work through their pain, women are taught to pay attention to their pain and to do something about it as soon as it happens even if it means they have to stop what they are doing to fix it. My husband dislocated his thumb once, he just looked at it and forced it back to where it belonged. If that had been me, I probably would have been in tears and on my way to the hospital. Everyone has their own pain threshold, and where it is has absolutely nothing to do with their gender.

Answer 5

What kind of a question is that? If I say men have a higher pain tolerance here won't I be subjected to an onslaught from the ladies? I wouldn't say that I have great pain tolerance, but in general it would be men. Hey, we might not give birth but there's always kidney stones!

Answer 6

try gettin kicked in the jewels! jk

i have heard that women do not have a higher tolerance for pain, women giving birth scream and clench fists prob the same as men would how do you call that tolerating the pain?

also i read in a magazine that red heads on avg have a 25% higher tolerance for pain than other hair colors

Answer 7

Pain, is relative. Train a women to perceive pain at a touch of a feather and you can train a man to put up with the pain of child birth (of course in other ways). Check out the training of current military factions, torturings. Pain has a lot to do with hormones and nerves.

Answer 8

no. we have different tolerances for types of pain. visceral pain- stuff from the intestines (and other internal organs) is recognized differently by men and women, women deal with cramping type pain better as they are acustomed to it from their cycle.
pain from say skin is a whole different matter girl typically have freak outs from small lacerations and cry incessantly whereas men tolerate this kind of thing better. boys traumatize their skin etc more frequently and thus adapt to this better.

Answer 9

How do you know? Women don't have a choice in that area so stop acting like its such a big deal.. its not. If a man can handle getting a leg or arm ripped off in war.. he can handle childbirth.

If childbirth is so bad then close your legs and adopt a kid instead. Tired of hearing that crap.

Answer 10

wow, no matter what sex you are you are going to handle pain differently. i see people only referring to child birth and getting arms/legs cut of. first off men can't have children so there is no evidence to say they couldn't handle the pain. second women have had limbs cut off in war, heard of OIF/OEF? men are not the only ones fighting over there.
I have seen many men cry when they get a tattoo (back and arm and legs), where i have many(whole back, foot) including one on my sternum(chest bone) and i have never cried nor come close.

Answer 11

I definitely think so. If my husband steps on a crumb, he reacts as if I should call 911. Not only can he not not tolerate pain but he is overly dramatic about everything (except me).

However, some men can tolerate pain well. As for childbirth I don't think any man could tolerate that.