Psychological factors

“Stress and tiredness both have an impact on how the body experiences pain,” says Banwell. “Aches and pains can result from increased levels of stress, and some research has shown that chronic pain can be associated with higher levels of stress and an increased level of cortisol.”

Interestingly, Keogh also reveals that mood and expectation around pain has an impact, as he explains that “how we feel we ‘should’ respond to pain plays a role. As well as the sensory perception of pain, how we perceive pain is affected by thoughts, feelings and context, for example, expectations and placebo effects.”

A good example of this expectation is the child in a playground who falls over and is totally fine until she sees her mum, and only then does she react to the pain.

Social factors

“Social and cultural factors can impact how we think about pain, how we experience it, and how we express it,” says Keogh. “This can be due to our upbringing and how we are taught to express ourselves, with gender-based beliefs and biases affecting how we express pain and also when and how we seek help.”

Banwell agrees: “Stereotypically, in childhood, little girls will be comforted when they’re in pain, whereas boys might be told to get on with it. This can lead to men not admitting when they feel pain as quickly as women.”

And research does back this up, with women being more likely to say they are feeling pain than men. “This is taken to suggest that women have a lower pain threshold than men,” says Keogh. “But this depends on self-reporting, and men may be less willing to report pain, so we have to consider that.”

Added to this, it’s accepted that pain in women can be normalised, as Keogh explains that “women with persistent pain often report not being believed, which contributes to lots of pain being under-treated, and this may be more pronounced for women.”

More research is needed

It’s clear that this is a complicated subject, but it is important to understand the factors at play in order to be able to manage both long- and short-term pain across genders. Banwell stresses: “It is important to remember that pain experiences vary considerably within genders as well, as everyone’s individual pain threshold is different.”

Put simply, if you need a sit down after stubbing your toe, you go ahead.

It really does hurt more to be female: why women are more likely to feel pain