Men feel less pain if they are treated by a female doctor.
Men feel less pain in the care of female doctors
A team of experts from Lund University in Sweden recruited healthy volunteers who were stimulated by a short laser pulse in the arch of their feet.
It was revealed that the male participants who got treatment from a female 'examiner' had a higher threshold compared to when they were treated by men - despite the fact that medics of both genders dressed the same and used an identical script.
Further analysis revealed that men, but not women, said that they were in slightly less pain when asked by the fairer sex.
Study supervisor Professor Jonas Akeson, from Skane University Hospital in Malmo, said: "This is the first confirmation of these results both experimentally in healthy individuals as well as clinically with newly operated patients.
"Including the gender perspective when pain is evaluated can hopefully contribute to patients receiving even better care and pain treatment in the future."