Would you believe that redheads are more sensitive to pain than blonds or brunettes? It's true, according to scientific studies. Why, oh why, would somebody actually study this?
Apparently, it's been lore in the dental community for a long time that redheads don't get numb like other people, and have more pain in the chair. Someone decided it was worth looking into, and they discovered that the belief was true. Why? Redheads have a mutation in a gene that produces a substance called melanin, which gives hair and skin their color. The mutation produces ginger hair, fair skin and freckles. It also has some involvement in pain sensitivity, although scientists don't fully understand its role.
This study caught my eye because I used to be a redhead (time and pregnancy changed my hair color dramatically.) I've had the dentist-chair experience of not getting numb, and feeling pain when I "shouldn't" have. I've always been highly pain sensitive, even before fibromyalgia.
I have to wonder, among those of us with a gradual onset, who can trace some symptoms back to our early memories -- are we more likely to be redheads? I know it's silly, but I thought it would be a fun poll!
Fellow reddies, have you had problems getting numb? Have you felt pain that surprised your dentist? Have you always had a high pain sensitivity? Take the poll, and leave your comments below!
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I had problems with dentistry when I was a child i.e not being frozen properly.
I am not a redhead. In fact I was almost white as a young child and then dark golden blonde as an older child and adolescent. However, my father, my brother and my two sons all have red beards.
Before hair color and starting to go gray, my natural hair color was dark brown. But I do have first cousins who are natural redheads, so maybe there is some connection there.
I have always needed extra novacaine while having dental work done, at least since developing fibromyalgia 23 years ago.
I honestly don’t remember being more sensitive to pain or having any pain problems as a child but I do remember needing more sleep than my two brothers and my sister did.
This research at first glance may seem a bit far out but that’s how medical science can be at times. Sometimes important discoveries are made by accident.
http://www.bodylogicmd.com/for-women/symptoms-of-hormonal-imbalance
check that link…a lot of the symptoms of these unclear syndromes such as fibromyalgia and cfs are the same symptoms of a hormonal imbalance…. you should get your hormones checked if you have been diagnosed w/ either of these syndromes. often docs give those vague diagnoses when they don’t know what the root of the problem is. My aunt saw 20 doctors before finding out that fibromyalgia was just the name of a condition they don’t know much about. she finally found relief of her symptoms when she started bhrt.
I’m a redhead, and have always had pain sensitivities. I’ve been using the same dentist for almost 20 years, so he knows to give me a double shot of Novocaine before doing any work on me.
I’ve always been that way… when I was a kid, I couldn’t take the baby Tylenol, I went straight to the adult kind when I had something happen, like a scrape or gash. I thought it was just me… perhaps there is something to it?
I am a natural Redhead and when I was 7 I had some teeth pulled and I came out of the anesthetic too soon and it surprised the dentist then he told my parents that he should have known better because I am a redhead. I have had 4 children and the nurses each time had said “oh no we have a redhead” and after one of my children, which was an emergency c-section, they gave me morphine and I was still complaining of pain and they had to keep upping it. So I know that my body metabolizes medications must faster and also notices pain more.
I have always had brown hair–lighter as a child with a bit of auburn now. My pain tolerance has always been extremely HIGH which is why I would not believe I had fibro (a website said people with low pain tolerance had this, but I have since found out that pain for us is just magnified). Just for comparison from a non-redhead.
I have had quite a few experiences throughout my life that definitely support this study. I am a redhead (or strawberry blonde as hair stylists call it) and whether in a dental office or a doctor’s office, I have always had to have more than one dose/injection in order to freeze/numb properly. I also required a pain med cocktail fit to relax a horse (as the doctors said) during an ER visit for a crippling back spasm. While these, and other, experiences have taught me that I may indeed have a high sensitivity to pain (or is it a high threshold for medications?), they have also have made me fairly tolerant of many different pains.
Note to Sarah:
if it is true that our bodies metabolize medications much faster, why oh why can’t that be true regarding food as well! haha
I’m a genuine redhead and remember firbromyalgia symptoms from as young as 8-9 years old; specifically leg aches and insomnia. I don’t have a particularly low pain tolerance at the dentist – in fact the last time I went I opted not to have novacaine at all. As a nurse I’ve heard the redhead/pain theory before and there’s also a theory that redheads bleed more than other people.
I read an article several years ago (wish I could remember where!) that said to alert the anethestisiologist (sp) before surgery as you might need more than average if you are a red head. I did just that and he said he had heard that as well and would keep that in mind..sounding rather condescending to boot
And yeah..the dentist doubles me up all the time.
I think you may have found a different direction from your original survey….I too had major dental work as a child and ALWAYS had trouble “numbing” up. I had to have the majority of my baby teeth extracted and always needed extra shots. As an adult, I have awoken during such procedures as an endoscopy and at the end of my tubal ligation. New topic, maybe?
As a brunette with some auburn, I always had trouble at the dentist getting numb. I have also “woke up” during some procedures such as endoscopies. I have a high pain tolerence and have always worked through it. My understanding is we perceive pain differently, which I whole-heartedly agree with.
The article that I read on hair color and pain talked about women who had the gene for red hair having a higher pain threshold and that seemed to hold true for me as I do not seem to have too much pain with the fibromyalgia. I attributed that to having an adequate dose of thyroid meds and also adequate adrenal supplement. When I lowered either dose, my pain really increased.
I have 7 children and the pain was minimal as were the contractions — needed oxytocin for 4 of them.
On the other hand when I had some extensive dental work done, the ultracaine would not stay in and they had to give me several doses at about 20 minute intervals for the procedures. I attributed that to have too low a dose of thyroid meds, but I was just speculating about that!
I’ve been an RN since 1975 and have cared for hundreds of patients. I can testify that I’ve seen many, many examples of red haired/sandy haired patients who are more susceptible to pain than those with other pigmentation. These folks usually but not always, also have pale eye color, blue, grey, green. Redheads also seem to bleed more profusely– possibly a problem with a blood clotting factor.
Although there are some exceptions, folks with this kind of coloring generally have Northern European roots, especially some Celtic blood. (Scots, Irish, English, or even Danish.)I am pale skinned, had freckles and reddish blonde hair when I was younger, so did my mother and so do both my daughters, and 2 of my grandsons. I have a daughter in law who is very, very fair, with porcelain white skin, very few freckles. This daugheter in law has MS. I have fiobromyalgia. There is definitely some truth in any study which indicates that redheads are more susceptible to pain.
I was a redhead as a child-young adulthood. It is now a brown/red highlight shade (and some gray). The dentist always has to medicate me extra and I remember struggling with pain sensitivity over the past 33 years or so. This study is interesting!
Yes, I ocassionally have problems getting numb for dental procedures
I had a root canal done today, and I told the Endodontist that I usually require more Novocaine than is initially used. Three times he had to stop and administer more, because I could still feel the pain.This has always been an issue for me. I am Auburn haired, my mom was flaming red. I also have Fibromyalgia… I have found I have a high threshold for pain, but always need higher doses of pain meds when I do take them.
I am a redhead & I definitely need more anesthesia in the dentist chair. He just keeps giving me shots of novocaine & waits till some numbness sets it. Though I am not sure if I have a low pain tolerance or not ?
I am a 46 year old natural red head and I have had a lot of problems with anestetic, I woke up in the middle of major surgery. I have had to take up to 3 needles for dental work at times. I also have body aches and pains, consistant with, fibromyalgia. I have another issue I would like some input on, do other red heads sleep a lot. I do and always wondered if it is red head related as the doctor has performed tests and my health is good. I would appreciate any input.
YES!! Issues with getting numb and anestheisa as well. Natural Red head. Tentative diagnosis from 5 different doctors and numerous testing: fibro. So needless to say not a fun thing for us redheads in particular…. esp. with the pain medication lock down measures. ;-( Thanks for enlightening everyone on this subject!
Hi, just a redhead without fms, with a brunette husband w/fms coming across the site. There may be some misunderstanding about the red hair/pain connection. it’s not that red heads feel more pain, it’s that we need increased sedatives, meds, anestheisa for it to take effect and stay effective, approximately 20% increase. There has been further studies done and even when patients during surgery were not ‘conscious’, their bodies/muscles/nerves still reacted to the cutting etc. – thus indicating they required more for the reaction to stop and for the surgery to continue. One theory about the mutated gene is that it lays next to the gene related to pain and may be related in that way. It has been found that the same has not been found to be exact for red haired males, theory there being that the pain pathways in women are different than men. So, we don’t feel ‘more’ pain, our bodies need more to block it. ttfn ^.^
I am a strawberry-blonde with fibromyalgia. I never thought I was more sensitive to pain–I feel like I have a pretty high tolerance to experience pain and keep going, especially with the fibro. But it is possible that despite the ability to “ignore” it, the reason I am experiencing it is a higher susceptibility to pain…
As for the bleeding and redheads, I can tell you that when I was working in postpartum as an RN, we “feared” redheads–they were much more likely to bleed heavily (too heavily) after delivery.
Maybe strawberry blondes are different from fully redheads? I was carrot-top red when I was born and for about 8 years and then it lightened. It gets more red if I am not outside, more blonde if I am.
I disagree to these studies, I have been a red head all my life and I don’t really feel large amounts of pain in dental procedures or even in general. Usually I am the one in the group who can take the most pain! My friends joke I am “Son of CHUCK NORRIS” for a reason, and it’s not because I can’t take pain!
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy is often the underlying problem when Fibromyalgia is diagnosed. It’s sad that people have to go through so many different doctors & medical tests just to find out that hormones would help solve everything!