He painLogically, it has a mainly physical origin, but also a high psychological component. This is precisely why placebos and some pseudotherapies are much more effective as pain relievers than for treating certain ailments. But this unconscious and psychological control of pain is also manifested through such curious factors as, in general, feeling Less pain when the person inflicting it is a woman.
It is the conclusion of research carried out by Anna Sellgren Engskov, a doctoral student at the Lund University, in Sweden. In fact, This research is the topic of his thesispresented today.
The scientist has shown that women can help other people feel less pain, through two experiments, one of them with two parts. The first has been carried out entirely in the laboratory. On the other hand, the second has been done on sitewith real patients, recently operated on in the Skåne University Hospitalfrom Malmö, also in Sweden.
Less pain in the receptors
This study was based on the perception of nociceptive pain. This is what takes place when there is some type of injury, like a wound, burn, or blowand substances are released that bind to receptors, called receptors, which send signals to the brain, through the nerves, that are then translated as sensation of pain.
The other type of pain that exists is neuropathic, in which the damage takes place directly in those nerves through which the signals are sent, without acting on the nociceptors. This is, for example, the pain that occurs when a nerve is pinched, in sciatica, or due to infections such as herpes zoster, a virus that infects precisely the nerve fibers.
Women who calm
In the first experiment of this study, nociceptive pain was elicited in two ways. To begin with, a scientist, dressed exactly the samestimulated with a laser on the feet to the volunteers, causing them a small sensation of pain. These volunteers had to indicate their perception of pain, so that, if it was low, the intensity of the laser was increased.
Curiously, the male volunteers They reported feeling less pain when the person who administered the laser was a woman. Therefore, it was necessary to increase the intensity.
In a second experiment, volunteers were asked to self-inflict pain using a button that provided a small electric shock. The experiment was supervised by a man or woman, who were responsible for asking them about their perception of pain. Curiously, both men and women They reported feeling less pain when the experiment was supervised by a scientist.
Would the same thing happen in the hospital?
The author of the research wanted to know if the same would happen when carrying out the experiments with real patients. Therefore, in collaboration with the university hospital workers, he recruited 245 people recently operated.
All volunteers underwent an interview about their pain levels after surgery. This was exactly the same, but in some cases carried out by a man and, in others, by a woman. In this case, when the patients were women, there was no difference, but if they were men, they said they felt less pain if the interviewer was a woman.
The psychological factor is important
Neither the author of the thesis nor her supervisor, the professor Jonas Akeson, are clear about the reasons for the research results. It is clear that it must be some psychological factor and they believe that it is possibly related to the empathy. Women tend to be more empathetic and show more smiles and a calm appearance when talking to people who are in pain. Therefore, unconsciously, both for the sufferer and the woman accompanying them, they could reassure patients and, thus, contribute to them feeling less pain.
Admittedly, it could be unconscious bragging. Inability of some men to recognize a woman who feels pain. However, given that in some of the experiments the results were replicated with female volunteers, it is worth investigating. After all, there is already other research that shows that people treated by doctors or nurses they feel less pain than when treated by men. That does not mean that men are bad health workers, far from it. The difference is minimal, but it is interesting to delve into it.