The Gender Pain Gap Is Real — And the Research Proves It

Women's Health & Advocacy
Written By Totally Fine Co

If you've ever sat in a waiting room in agony and been handed a leaflet instead of pain relief, you are not imagining it. There is a well-documented phenomenon called the gender pain gap — and it refers to the consistent, research-backed difference in how women's pain is assessed and treated compared to men's.

What the research shows

A landmark (groundbreaking, widely cited) 2024 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (one of the world's most respected scientific journals) analysed emergency department records from over 21,000 patients. The findings were stark: female patients were consistently less likely to be prescribed pain relief medication than male patients, even when they reported the same level of pain. The researchers identified a specific bias at play — clinicians were stereotypically perceiving women's pain reports as exaggerated (PNAS, 2024).

This wasn't limited to one type of doctor. The same study found that both male and female physicians undertreated female patients to a similar extent — suggesting the issue is cultural and systemic (embedded in systems and structures), not simply a matter of individual prejudice.

Other research adds further weight:

  • Women experiencing acute abdominal pain in emergency departments wait an average of 65 minutes for pain medication. Men in the same situation wait an average of 49 minutes (HealthyWomen, 2023).

  • Women are half as likely as men to receive painkillers after coronary bypass surgery (open heart surgery to restore blood flow) (HealthyWomen, 2023).

  • Women experience more chronic (long-term) pain than men on average, but are more likely to have it attributed to anxiety or psychological factors (mental/emotional causes) rather than physical ones (PMC, 2025).

  • Nurses were found to be 10% less likely to record women's pain scores than men's — meaning the pain wasn't even being documented, let alone treated (University of Arizona, 2024).

Where does this bias come from?

Researchers point to several deep-rooted sources:

  • Historical framing of women's pain as "hysteria." The word "hysteria" literally comes from the Greek word for uterus (womb). For centuries, women's unexplained symptoms were attributed to emotional or mental weakness rather than physical causes — and echoes of this framing persist.

  • Underrepresentation in research. For decades, clinical trials (medical studies that test treatments) were conducted predominantly on male subjects. This means that many pain medications and protocols were developed based on male physiology (body systems and responses) — with women's responses treated as secondary.

  • Implicit bias (unconscious prejudice that affects decisions without awareness). Research consistently shows that clinicians perceive women's pain as less severe, less urgent, and more emotionally driven than equivalent pain in men.

What does this mean for you?

It means that walking into a medical appointment with clearly documented, structured information about your symptoms — including severity, frequency, and functional impact (how they affect your ability to do everyday things) — matters more than it should have to. It means that being able to say "this is a 7 out of 10, it wakes me at night, I have missed four days of work in the past two months" carries more weight than saying "it's really bad."

You shouldn't need to fight for basic pain acknowledgement. But until the system catches up with the evidence, having your information prepared and presented clearly is one of the most practical tools available to you.

References:

This post is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice or diagnosis. If you are concerned about your symptoms, please speak with a qualified healthcare provider.

Totally Fine Co
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