How much more pain can men take than women?

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Numerous studies (see men exhibit links) have revealed that men indeed have a higher pain threshold and tolerance than women in normal circumstances. Pregnancy and in particular labor are exceptions as a woman's body adjusts for the pain by highly elevating the level of endorphins in her body and thus that issue is not relevant to the question (see endorphins link). The massive amount of endorphins released during labor help the mother maintain intense focus and alertness that is usually impossible for women as they, unlike men, are naturally built for multitasking. Men with their ability to focus and higher threshold- the point at which you consider something painful- are more able to completely forget about a higher level of pain than women. The higher tolerance- the point at which you consider the pain unbearable or in the studies linked the point at which a participant quit the experiment- in men also make them a better choice for particularly intense pain, again excluding pregnancy. The advantage to the male approach of focusing is that they will either be able to completely shut pain out by focusing on something else for relatively minor pains and will focus on only the pain itself in more intense cases. Women in intense pain often mentally make their pain worse because they see a more broad picture then men and worry about several other aspects of the pain than simply how much it hurts. A man who has just broken a rib will think about how badly his rib hurts; a woman will think about that as well as what effects it will have on her, how long the pain will last, what she should do about it, etc.

The female approach has advantages as well however. It has been established in studies that women are less likely to let pain affect their day-to-day life despite their lower threshold and tolerance (see women exhibit link). Most pains that may come into play in a study of day-to-day life are those which are above the average threshold of either gender but still well below the tolerance for either, but because men just shake the pain off it also allows them to feel less pain then women. If a woman multi-tasks it does not distract her from the pain, but only makes her hold it in, which can make it more intense because she'll think about it more.

In conclusion, with regards to simply measuring threshold and tolerance one of the links provided describes the male advantage as "moderate," on a scale of small, moderate, and large. With minor pain just above the threshold or very intense pain there is no doubt men have a scientifically significant advantage.
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I think this was written by a man. But no, really, only men can blah about being tougher. Anyway, I think both are pretty much the same. It depends on the person, but, I believe men can take more pain when it comes to working hard and fighting, because they have the physical strength. But women diliver children which is the most painful natural thing. It also depends on the woman, but I think no man can give birth to a child. And I also think no woman can beat up a man (only in cases of a woman being a 6 foot monster and the man being a 5 foot shorty).

First answer by Dulcetsprite. Last edit by Milena Milikic-Knight. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributorrecommended]. Question popularity: 16 [recommend question].