Stanford Study: Women More Likely To Express Pain Than Men

By Dr. Brian McDonough

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - According to researchers from Stanford University, women experience and express pain in far greater voices than men. They say that a woman is much more likely to say her pain is 10 on a scale of 10 than a man.

Certainly this is controversial because one would wonder why women are complaining about pain more than men and just what is the reason.

According to the report women are more vocal about their pain and how they handle it. The report is consistent across all age groups according to the study authors. What is the reason?

One theory is women are more expressive talking about other issues such as depression or anxiety. They are just more open. One other theory is there could be a hormonal possibility where women could experience greater pain than men because of some yet not understood biological response.

But the bottom line is they don't know. This is an observational study. They saw something happening and reported it.