Women have their pain dismissed more than men, according to research

A study, of 5,000 adults, examined how everyday pain is poorly understood and mistreated, with 81 per cent of 18-24-year-old women feeling their pain is ignored or dismissed. This compares to just 73 per cent of men of the same age.

While more than half of women, aged 45 and over, feel they have been ignored or dismissed, but this drops to 49 per cent of men. In addition, four in 10 women with menopause-related pain had it dismissed or ignored, and one in six women over 45 claimed it took longer than a year for the cause of their suffering to be diagnosed.

Overall, 19 per cent of all women felt their pain was dismissed by healthcare professionals for more than five years compared to 16 per cent of men. As a result, one in five said their career has been impacted because of their pain.

The research was commissioned by Nurofen and its parent company Reckitt, as part of its latest Gender Pain Gap Index Report, which has been tracked annually since 2022.

Gabby Menezes-Forsyth, 25, suffered extreme period pain as a teenager before an endometriosis diagnosis. She said: “I felt from an early age that the extreme period pain I was experiencing seemed to be worse than others, but I didn’t have a frame of reference for what was normal.

“I felt dismissed as ‘dramatic’ by everyone - from loved ones to teachers. In frequent trips to the GP, their dismissal never appeared cruel or to suggest that I wasn’t in pain, but rather that there was nothing they could do.

“Ultimately, it was only after suffering a miscarriage at age 22 that I was diagnosed with a biconcave uterus and endometriosis. Even with the clarity that the diagnosis offered, it was a difficult realisation to come to, understanding that this would always be something that would impact my life.”

“I felt dismissed as ‘dramatic’ by everyone”

The research shows that the average Gap stands at seven per cent, indicating that more women than men have had their pain ignored or dismissed. While this year’s Gap has narrowed (two per cent in 2024 vs 11 per cent in 2023), a higher number of women felt their pain was ignored or dismissed (62 per cent in 2024, 49 per cent in 2023 and 56 per cent in 2022.

A third of women felt it has impacted their mental health - up from a quarter in the 2023 report. And one in four even started to question their own sanity, believing their pain wasn’t real after having it dismissed.

Clare Knox, founder and CEO of See Her Thrive, said: “So much is talked about the Gender Pay Gap - a similar issue, which needs fixing. But this report shows the Gender Pain Gap is also holding so many women back from reaching their true potential and climbing the career ladder.

“We need to start supporting women to thrive in every aspect of their lives, whether that’s helping them manage pain so they can carve out the career they want, or working with organisations to create environments which empower women’s health in the workplace.”

It also emerged the workplace was found to be one of the most common places for pain to have been overlooked for 40 per cent of women. And only a fifth are comfortable talking about their pain to HR or their manager in the workplace.

But the dismissal by a health care professional is happening as young as between 10 and 15 for one in 10 girls.

Dr Bill Laughey, senior medical scientist at Reckitt, which has also announced a partnership with Plan International UK to support girls’ health literacy, said: “With three years of data, we can now start to see the nuances of how women’s pain is dismissed and, crucially, use this insight to help address gender biases for those who experience it the most.

“This complements our wider commitments to our research programmes, working with Imperial Consultants, London to identify what education the next generation of HCPs want to see while supporting the Royal College of GPs in providing training around gender bias in primary care settings.”