Myofascial pain and fibromyalgia occur more frequently in women than in men, but are there differences in the way males and females perceive muscle pain?

Research led by University of Missouri researcher Erin A. Dannecker, PhD, ATC, recently examined sex differences in ratings and effects of recalled and experimentally induced muscle pain. Two studies undertook to answer the question.

Myofascial Pain in Muscles
In the first study, 188 people were surveyed and asked to describe their recalled muscle pain on a questionnaire. Fifty-five participants took part in the second study, which sought information about muscle pain ratings, self-care behaviors for muscle pain, and the effect of muscle pain on activities.

The only significant difference between the response of men and women on reports, collected via telephone interviews, was that men thought exercise was less effective for decreasing their muscle pain than did women, a smaller number of women exercised for induced muscle pain than men, and the interference with activity on the third day post-exercise was much higher for women than for men.

Muscle pain ratings were found to have no significant differences between men and women in muscle pain ratings, according to the outcomes of the study.

Additional Studies Warranted
However, the researchers felt that additional work is needed with larger population samples that take into consideration the daily activities of the participants, as well as the prevalence and occurrence of a broad array of modalities for self-care to alleviate pain.

Gender differences are not found to exist in either recalled or experimentally-induced muscle pain ratings, according to the results of the studies. This indicates that doctors should be hesitant about correlating the literature on musculoskeletal pain to muscle pain.

Potential sex differences in self-care behaviors for activity interference from muscle pain itself or activity interference from muscle pain can only be properly assessed with additional study results.

Sex Differences in Muscle Pain: Self-care Behaviors and Effects on Daily Activities by Erin A. Dannecker, PhD, ATC, Victoria Knoll, MS, PT/L, and Michael E. Robinson, PhD. Published online 2007.