Historically, women have been getting the short end of the stick when it comes to pain management. It’s a common belief that women have a higher pain tolerance than men, but that is a false assumption. Studies have shown that men have a higher pain tolerance compared to women, which is why women need to receive timely and appropriate pain management when they need it.

Although studies show that women tend to experience pain more frequently and more intensely compared to men, women are less likely to receive pain relief in hospitals and emergency rooms (ERs). In a study that analyzed over 21,000 ER admissions across the US and Israel, researchers found that women spend a longer time in the ER compared to men, do not get their pain levels recorded, and are discharged without appropriate pain medication. Regardless of whether they are seen by women or men doctors, women experience the same level of inadequate care, highlighting just how pervasive pain management inequality is.

This article provides an overview of gender disparities in pain care and offers a patient rights checklist to advance chronic pain equality, empowering women to demand equitable treatment and appropriate care.

Gender Disparities in Pain Care

Women are more prone to experiencing chronic pain, or pain that lasts for more than six months, than men. Unfortunately, not only are they more at risk of developing chronic pain conditions, but they are also less likely to be diagnosed and treated for them.

According to an article published by the International Association for the Study of Pain, when it comes to pain, men mostly experience cluster headaches, post-shingles nerve pain, migraine without perceptual disturbances of light and smell, and ankylosing spondylitis. Meanwhile, women experience more chronic pain conditions, including pelvic pain, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), all other forms of headache, multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis, bladder pain syndrome, and fibromyalgia, among many others.

Even to this day, because of gender biases and cultural norms, women’s pain symptoms are sadly not recognized or taken seriously by healthcare professionals, often chalking up women’s pain to hormonal or psychological factors instead of looking into underlying conditions.

A landmark study extrapolated about 29 million ER visits for chest pain in the US between 2014 and 2018. Even though both men and women arrived at the hospital via an ambulance for chest pain, women were significantly less likely to be treated as emergency cases compared to men. Women were found to wait an additional 11 minutes longer compared to men before they are seen by a healthcare professional, and are less likely to have an electrocardiogram (ECG) ordered for them, receive cardiac monitoring, or be referred to a cardiac specialist. When it comes to treating cardiac-related events, time is of the essence, and when women’s pain is not taken seriously, it significantly affects their treatment and recovery.

2026 Checklist: Advocating for Equality in Pain Management

When seeking healthcare support for chronic pain, patients should consider adopting the following tips to advocate for themselves better:

• Request for a comprehensive pain assessment. Request validated scales and gender-aware evaluations, such as the Widespread Pain Index (WPI) and System Severity (SS) scale, for chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia that are more frequently observed in women.
• Request for an interdisciplinary approach to chronic pain management. To effectively manage chronic pain, it’s important to get access to interdisciplinary treatment programs that address biological, psychological, and social factors. Interdisciplinary approaches to pain management involve doctors, nurses, psychologists, physical therapists, and other health professionals.
• Insist on bias-free treatment: Ask healthcare providers to document pain scores without stereotyping, ask about exams and labs that can be performed to identify underlying causes of pain, and clarify next steps.
• Seek shared decision-making: Ensure that you discuss all possible pain management options, including non-opioids. Remember that you can refuse unwanted interventions while ensuring access to needed care.

Actionable Steps: Implementing Gender-Sensitive Clinical Guidelines for Pain

Implementing gender-sensitive clinical guidelines for pain starts with provider training on biases and sex differences. Facilities should adopt the following helpful protocols to ensure that pain management is provided as equitably as possible:

Key steps include:

• Healthcare organizations must mandate annual debiasing workshops for all healthcare professionals to ensure that women receive timely and appropriate care for their chronic pain symptoms.​
• Promote shared decision-making with patient-centered counseling.
• Establish regular review panels to assess gender disparities in pain management outcomes. These panels can evaluate patient feedback, treatment efficacy, and provider practices, allowing hospitals to identify areas for improvement and address gaps in care.
• Develop internal reporting systems for patients and staff to flag instances of gender bias or inequitable pain treatment. Employees must feel empowered and safe to speak up when they witness inequality when it comes to pain management procedures.
• Include gender-sensitive pain management modules in continuing education programs for all clinical staff.
• Collaborate with patient advocacy groups to co-design pain management policies and
• Regularly audit prescription and referral patterns to detect and address any unintentional gender biases.