Pain Tolerance

There’s always great debate over the concept of man flu, or which gender feels the most pain. As it happens, there are a few factors which can effect you ability to withstand pain. If you do experience regular pain, discuss it with your GP or health practitioner, and take note of the circumstances below, which may be adding to your discomfort.

Fatigue

If you suffer from sleep disturbances, everything feels harder – it is harder to maintain patience and focus, and you are more likely to be susceptible to pain. If you have disrupted sleep more than once a week, researchers say you will have a measurably lower pain tolerance than those who sleep soundly.

Ensure that your bed and pillow are supportive and comfortable, limit caffeine and alcohol intake and try to avoid screens in the evening. Eat dinner a little earlier and develop a good sleep routine.

Depression

Along with fatigue, depression can affect pain, although the actual correlation is yet to be identified. Depressed study subjects have been found to have significantly more frequent, more intense, and more unpleasant pain complaints than healthy participants. Depression can suppress the immune system, and should be addressed to improve your overall health.

Medication

Pain medication is useful for short term ailments. However, pain medication can be addictive and may end up increasing pain rather than alleviating it. Increasing dosage eventually leads to changes in the brain, and you may become more sensitive to pain than you were initially.

Seek other solutions, in conjunction with a health professional to manage pain.

Lifestyle factors

Your genes play a role in determining your sensitivity to pain, as does your overall lifestyle. Certain genes block chemicals in the blood which increase sensitivity to pain.

If you are able to manage stress well, and take care of your health using a healthy diet, regular exercise and good quality sleep, your body is set up to manage pain efficiently when it comes up. After exercise, otherwise healthy people have a higher pain threshold than before.

Gender
There is a gender gap when it comes to registering pain, but before one group claims supremacy – there is a reason for it. Women studies after surgery did experience more pain than men. While researchers concluded that women tend to have a lower pain threshold than their male counterparts, they suggest this is because women have evolved “sensory mechanisms” that make them more in tune to changes across all senses, including feeling pain.

Pain is a signal that something in your body requires attention. It should not be ignored. Discomfort is normal after extra exertion or a new activity, but long term or regular pain, be is headaches, back pain or irritation in the gut should be explored professionally.