# Goal of This Training ##### Untangling Pain ---  --- ## tl;dr - Women are disproportionately affected by many pain conditions, from fibromyalgia and migraine to autoimmune disease. - Women have also been underrepresented in pain research, while much of the treatment I was taught was based on men. - I am not dismissing men’s pain; I want to explain why women’s pain needs its own attention. - This module looks at hormones, nervous system sensitivity, inflammation and immunity, and emotional and psychological factors. - Understanding those differences may help us find approaches that actually fit women’s lives and bodies. > [!abstract]- Transcript > > Hello and welcome to this training on women and pain. So this is part three in the series. Part one was on pain science. Part two was all about the bio-psycho-social- spiritual model. And this part three you'll see what that's about in just a second. > > Now, I've worked with women in pain for many years through massage, through remedial therapy, through biomechanics. And every time I studied, every time I went on a course, I just couldn't help but have that thought in my head that it's different for women. You know, the information that I was being given was based on men and it is different for women. > > So let's take a look at some of the key conditions that disproportionately affect women. Starting off fibromyalgia. Now this is six times as common in women than in men. Okay. Six times. That's crazy. Migraine, it affects 6. 9 percent of males. And yet it affects 13. 8 percent of females. And when it comes to autoimmune diseases, females are three times as likely as males to suffer from systemic autoimmune diseases. > > And actually there are more than a hundred autoimmune diseases and 71 percent of these are more common in women than in men. So things like IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, this is predominantly diagnosed in women with ratios ranging from 2 to 1 to 4 to 1. So again, more women than men are affected by IBS. > > Even things like TMD, temporomandibular disorders, so conditions that cause pain and dysfunction in the jaw joints and muscles. They're twice as likely to affect women than they are men. And even osteoarthritis. Women account for 60 percent of the population with osteoarthritis. > > Obviously, I'm not even mentioning conditions that affect women specifically because of their anatomy, such as endometriosis or vulvodynia. There are so many different pain conditions that disproportionately affect women. And it is different for women. That's the point of this. > > I found this quote that said 70 percent of chronic pain sufferers are women. And yet 80 percent of pain studies are conducted on male subjects. Now, obviously, other studies out there showing different percentages, but the main point remains that women are more likely to suffer chronic pain than men, and that women are underrepresented massively, in studies on chronic pain. > > So again, the point of this is that women are more likely to experience chronic pain and that this is throughout a number of different pain conditions. Now, this is not by any means trying to disregard a man's experience or a male experience of pain, it's simply just stating some facts and highlighting why I couldn't get out of my head how pain is different for women and how the treatments I was taught and the research I followed and understood, in all honesty, it was bullshit because it was based on men. > > The goal of this training and why I want to try and tell you all that bit beforehand is, pain is different for women and that many of the treatments currently out there, they are based on male experiences. And they're based on male pain. So what I'm hoping to do in this training is to help you understand why pain is different for women compared to men. > > And obviously, if we understand why, it can help us to understand more of what we can actually do to help with that pain. > > There are four areas we're going to look at in more detail. The first one is hormonal influences because women have different hormones . The second is nervous system sensitivity, because our nervous system is different from men's and that affects our pain. > > The third is inflammation and the immune system response because yes, that is different too and that can influence our pain. And then the fourth is the emotional and psychological factors. This is something that I have covered in previous trainings, but in this training it is specific to women. > > Now, these are not the only reasons for women to experience chronic pain more than men. We still have things like anatomical differences, muscle strength, social factors and so on, but these were the ones that I wanted to focus on as in one way or another we actually have some kind of influence over them and they can link in a way that I will explain towards the end of this training. Next lesson → [[Untangling Pain – Module 3 Lesson 02 – Hormonal Influence|Hormonal Influence]] %% ![[Meta/01 Attachments/PNIE Pain BLOG.assets/slide-1.jpeg|slide-1.jpeg]] ![[Meta/01 Attachments/PNIE Pain BLOG.assets/slide-4.jpeg|slide-4.jpeg]] ![[Meta/01 Attachments/PNIE Pain BLOG.assets/slide-5.jpeg|slide-5.jpeg]] ![[Meta/01 Attachments/PNIE Pain BLOG.assets/slide-6.jpeg|slide-6.jpeg]] ![[Meta/01 Attachments/PNIE Pain BLOG.assets/slide-7.jpeg|slide-7.jpeg]] ![[Meta/01 Attachments/PNIE Pain BLOG.assets/slide-8.jpeg|slide-8.jpeg]] --- ## Extra ## Version 1: Full Introduction to Part Three: Women and Pain Hello and welcome to this training on women and pain This is part three in the series Part one was on pain science Part two was all about the bio-psycho-social-spiritual model This part three you’ll see what that’s about in just a second My Background and Thoughts Working with Women in Pain I’ve worked with women in pain for many years through massage, through remedial therapy, through biomechanics Every time I studied, every time I went on a course, I just couldn’t help but have that thought in my head that it’s different for women The information that I was being given was based on men and it is different for women Key Conditions that Disproportionately Affect Women Fibromyalgia is six times as common in women than in men—six times, that’s crazy Migraine affects 6.9 percent of males and 13.8 percent of females Females are three times as likely as males to suffer from systemic autoimmune diseases There are more than a hundred autoimmune diseases and 71 percent of these are more common in women than in men IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is predominantly diagnosed in women with ratios ranging from 2 to 1 to 4 to 1 TMD (temporomandibular disorders) are twice as likely to affect women than men Women account for 60 percent of the population with osteoarthritis Not even mentioning conditions that affect women specifically because of their anatomy, such as endometriosis or vulvodynia There are so many different pain conditions that disproportionately affect women It is different for women, that’s the point of this The Research Bias Against Women in Pain Studies I found this quote that said 70 percent of chronic pain sufferers are women, and yet 80 percent of pain studies are conducted on male subjects Obviously, other studies out there showing different percentages, but the main point remains that women are more likely to suffer chronic pain than men Women are underrepresented massively in studies on chronic pain The point is that women are more likely to experience chronic pain and that this is throughout a number of different pain conditions Clarification of Intent This is not by any means trying to disregard a man’s experience or a male experience of pain It’s simply just stating some facts Highlighting why I couldn’t get out of my head how pain is different for women The treatments I was taught and the research I followed and understood—in all honesty, it was bullshit because it was based on men Goal of This Training The goal of this training and why I want to try and tell you all that bit beforehand is: pain is different for women Many of the treatments currently out there are based on male experiences and male pain What I’m hoping to do in this training is to help you understand why pain is different for women compared to men If we understand why, it can help us to understand more of what we can actually do to help with that pain Four Key Areas of Focus The first one is hormonal influences because women have different hormones The second is nervous system sensitivity because our nervous system is different from men’s and that affects our pain The third is inflammation and the immune system response because yes, that is different too and that can influence our pain The fourth is the emotional and psychological factors—this is something that I have covered in previous trainings, but in this training it is specific to women Other Contributing Factors These are not the only reasons for women to experience chronic pain more than men We still have things like anatomical differences, muscle strength, social factors, and so on These were the ones that I wanted to focus on as in one way or another we actually have some kind of influence over them They can link in a way that I will explain towards the end of this training %%