March 04, 2026
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A type of hormone-regulated immune cells that are more active in men than women helps shut down pain faster, a new study finds.
Women have their share of unique challenges when it comes to experiencing pain, from giving birth to dealing with menstrual cramps to recovering from cesarean sections.
They also tend to experience more and longer-lasting chronic pain than men, research shows. But why?
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A recent study out of Michigan State University suggests it has to do with the male immune system's ability to shut down pain signals more effectively and quickly – perhaps due to higher testosterone levels. The findings eventually may lead to treatments for chronic pain that do not involve narcotics – and also may come as a relief to women whose pain has been minimized or dismissed, the researchers said.
"A lot of women are taught to hide their pain, because then, if they don't, people will perceive that they can't do their jobs, that they can't take care of their families," Ann Gregus, who researches chronic pain at Virginia Tech, told NBC News. Gregus did not participate in the study.
But Geoffroy Laumet, an associate professor of physiology and the new study's lead author, said the difference in pain has a biological basis.
"It's not in your head, and you're not soft," he said in a Michigan State publication. "It's in your immune system."
More than 100 million people in the United States have chronic pain, but why it's more prevalent among women is not fully understood.
The Michigan State researchers discovered that certain hormone-regulated immune cells, called monocytes, are more active in men than women, and that this activity may be responsible for shutting down pain more quickly in men than women. This may help explain why women's pain tends to resolve more slowly than men's and why women are more apt to develop chronic pain after an accident or injury, the researchers said.
The Michigan State team first tested their findings on mouse models, confirming that males had more monocyte activity than females. Then the researchers collaborated with colleagues at the University of North Carolina who were examining the psychological outcomes of people who had been in car crashes. These findings also showed that men had more monocyte activity than women and that the men's pain eased more quickly than the women's.
"Future researchers can build on this work," Laumet said. "This opens new avenues for non-opioid therapies aimed at preventing chronic pain before it's established."
