I received this text from my mom:
“Just heard that research has shown that people with red hair are more sensitive to pain. Now you know…. dye your hair!”
I laughed and shared it with my friends. But, it’s true.
A 2005 study by Liem, Joiner, Tseuda, and Sessler, published in Anesthesiology, was based on the idea that redheads typically need more anesthetic, indicating that they may be more sensitive to pain. If you’ve made it through Biology you likely know that red hair is a recessive gene, what you may not know is that the gene that results in red hair is also associated with increased need for anesthetic. A 2004 study by Liem et al in Anesthesiology showed that redheads need an average of 19% more general anesthetic than women with dark hair.
The 2005 study compared 30 redheads to 30 women with dark hair and examined their perception threshold, pain perception, and maximum pain tolerance. Baseline pain tolerance was similar in both groups, but the redheads were more sensitive to cold pain (both in perception and tolerance), and had lower heat pain tolerance. Topical lidocaine was also slightly less effective for redheads.
Redheads feel more pain, guess it's time to change my hair color! Share on X Redheads feel more pain... man I'm glad I'm not a redhead! Share on X-Redheads feel pain faster
-Redheads are more sensitive to the aching pain of cold
-Redheads have a lower tolerance to heat pain
-Redheads have a lower tolerance to cold pain
-Redheads require more anesthetic to relieve pain
This explains a lot… like why pain meds always seem to wear off earlier than they should for me, why sometimes what the Dr gives me for pain just isn’t enough, those random bruises that seem to pop up out of nowhere, why I woke up halfway through a dental procedure that I’d been knocked out for, and well a lot of the pain I feel. Ok, so it doesn’t explain everything, but it’s a start.
So, are you a redhead? Have you ever found yourself awake during a procedure when you should be asleep? Do you believe that redheads are more sensitive to pain?
Nikolaos says
Being a male redhead, I was dismayed at Oprah’s website that focused EXCLUSIVELY on women! I read the Wikipedia article on fibromyalgia and it did state that twice the number of women get FM but it did NOT state that it was a womsn’s issue EXCLUIVELY!
Interesting that the Oprah website had NO comment section as to complain and contest the prejudice, and their ‘contact us’ is again in ‘boxes’ for set issues and NO general comments or complaints allowed! This is digital fascism and so sad to see the Internet become so controlled and exclusionary as this was not the original idea as it is supposed to be all INCLUSIVE and interactionary (such as this site here)!
Just had to getthis off my chest as I had been slighted as a redhead MAN that we never can contract FM as that is simply NOT TRUE! YES WE CAN! Now in my case I have not received a positive confirmation as this is difficult to diagnose, but the POSIBILITY has not been ruled out!
I have bad and broken teeth and people will generally chide me for not getting dental care. Two reasons: one, expense, simply CANNOT AFFORD it!
Two: fear of pain! We as gingers apparently do require more anästhaesia than non-redhead people would and that alone has scared me off with ‘Dontoiatrophobia’! (essentially fear of dentists).
Julie says
The thing is that most studies tend to focus more on women when dealing with pain studies (especially Fibromyalgia) because we are more common. It’s not because guys don’t have it (I think a lot more do than people realize). Chances are in a study like this they may have had a few men initially but the numbers were likely so small that they threw them out (if they had any at all). It’s easier to do studies focused on a specific group that’s more likely to respond. Doing a study and just have 1 or 2 men would just throw numbers off.
As for Oprah’s website, I have no idea.
Angela at Daysinbed.com says
An interesting post! I dyed my hair red not long before i became ill Lol. Must be a coincidence.
Angela
ChronicMom says
I have red highlights, I wonder what that means? Lol. I’m practically impervious to anesthesia (my spinal wore off during the middle of surgery once, not fun) and I can take enough sleeping pills to knock out a horse and still be completely conscious.
Julie says
I know what you mean, I’m a full on redhead from birth. I’ve heard huge guys talking about 10mg of Ambien keeps them from waking up in the morning. I’m lucky if it gives me 4 hours before I wake up.
I once woke up during the middle of a major dental surgery. That was not fun. I could actually remember them talking about “uhoh she’s awake, give her more.”