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August 14th, 2009, 20:21 GMT · By

Redheads Feel More Pain

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Studies seem to indicate that natural redheads are actually more sensitive to pain
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Blondes have more fun and brunettes are usually seen as more intelligent, these are two of the stereotypes that still stand as regards the color of a woman’s hair. Until just recently, redheads were believed to be the most passionate of the lot but, as it turns out, they’re not just that, as they’re also able to feel more pain than their female counterparts with different hair color, an ABC News report says.

An old wives’ tale has it that redheads usually need more anesthesia when undergoing surgery than people with blonde or dark locks, the aforementioned piece says. Judging by the latest findings, it could very well be that this is not just a myth, as it stands deeply grounded in reality: for some reason or another, redheads are harder to knock out. They are also more sensitive to pain, studies have shown.

“Genetically speaking, redheads are mutants. They may not wear capes or fight crime like the ones we see in comic books but, as a growing body of research shows, they might have special powers. In the past five years, researchers have found that the genetic mutation responsible for redheads’ ruby tresses and snow-white skin also makes them more sensitive to hot and cold – and it could also make them a whole lot harder to numb up.” ABC News says.

Because of this, other studies have shown that redheads usually avoid going to the dentist because their more sensitive nature combined with their tolerance for anesthetics makes the trip a genuine ordeal for them. As Courtney Hutchinson of ABC, a natural redhead, can also vouch from her own experience, undergoing surgery to have her wisdom teeth removed was a nightmare as she woke up halfway through surgery and was about to ruin everything with her ill-fated attempts at speaking and trying to get up from the table.

“Studies have shown that, on average, redhead men and women require 20 percent more anesthesia than their non-ginger peers. A recent study from the Journal of the American Dentistry Association also shows that redheads tend to be more afraid of going to the dentist and are twice as likely to avoid dental care – presumably because their need for more numbing leads to unexpected complications in the dentist’s chair.” the ABC report further explains. 
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Comment #1 by: Renee on 09 Jul 2010, 17:04 UTC reply to this comment

I can tell you....people with red hair, auburn hair, and freckles.....are most definitely more sensitive to pain, sensitive to the sun, resistant to pain killers, and resistant to local anesthesia. I have much experience. Also, when I go to the dentist...not only does it take increased amounts of Novocain...it seems to wear off very quickly.

These occurrences are not myths, but reality.
I only wish, that doctors and the like were more aware of this.
Check out...melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R)
MCIR recessive variant gene.


Comment #2 by: one-winged red head Crow on 18 Dec 2011, 16:28 UTC reply to this comment

I have lost most of my teeth and am terrified of the dentist--even had one dentist remove wrong tooth while I was under anesth. his excuse, I told him which tooth it was,but he did not look at x-ray and I was knocked out/or maybe not? I also suffer from fibromyalgia--total body pain--for yrs. I was able to keep pain to a dull roar w/ acupuncture but the narcotics they gave then wasn't enough and topical things, like lidocaine patches and cream and electrical stimulation and hot (I used such a hot pack last wk. I caused a 2nd degree burn and didn't even feel it) and cold packs--then, my Dr.s contract at the Indian Health Service hospital wasn't renewed and I lost my acupuncture dr. so I turned to steriod inj. for excruciating shoulder pain--they gave me so much steroid shots (wked for 1 day if that long) and electrical stimulation(they turned it up and up--do you feel that? 3 times and looked at each other w/ incredulity is that a word?) deep in my shoulder that they killed my vascular system that takes blood to my bone---now I am told that shoulder bone is dead and I have avascular necrosis--I need to have a shoulder replacement---I am more than mad and the amt. of narcotics I am on right now is enough to knock over an elephant they say and it barely touches the pain--so when I finally get the courage to have the surgery my dr. needs to know I will need 20% more anesthesia to knock me out! I wonder if the kind of anesthesia works better than another?

Jeez, being teased incessantly growing up surrounded by dark haired, dark skinned school mates about my red hair wasn't enough torture, especially because I am a mixed blood woman--I am a light-skinned, red-headed Scottish/Crow Indian, who is a writer, w/ my right wing impaired, now this:(

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