Scientists claim redheads feel pain differently and allegedly have more sex
Topics: Science, Health, Beauty, Psychology, Sex and Relationships
Liv Bridge
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock
Topics: Science, Health, Beauty, Psychology, Sex and Relationships
Scientists have claimed redheads can feel pain differently and even have more sex.
Apparently, there are more reasons to envy women with naturally red hair aside from their gorgeous locks, as scientists have claimed they experience pleasure and pain differently than those with other hair colors.
Professor Irene Tracey, the vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, has lifted the lid on why redheads reap these additional benefits on the Radio 4 Today program.
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The leading neuroscientist, known as the 'Queen of Pain', noted how everyone has a different pain threshold, describing it as an individualized experience that is tough to study.
She said: "Pain is subjective, it’s a private experience that you can’t really objectify, it’s an oddity in its own self.
“The holy grail is to eradicate what we call bad pain, chronic pain, and actually target it at the right level and remove that suffering for patients. You don’t want to remove the good pain but you do want to eradicate the bad pain.”
However, the professor added that studies suggest people with ginger hair have been found to experience things like pain tolerance and sensitivity differently.
"There’s often a comment about women with ginger hair, versus not, having that different genetic basis for how they experience the threshold for pain,” Tracey said.
The claims come as redheads, estimated to be around two to six percent of the US population, have a variant of the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene.
This gene controls the production of melanin, the pigment that gives skin, eyes and hair its color.
People with red hair also produce mostly pheomelanin, explaining their likelihood of freckles and fair skin that makes them prone to burning in the sun - and their sensitivity to touch.
A report in the medical journal, Anesthesiology, said the pain threshold of redheads comes down to their hair gene mutation which may be partially switching off a sensory receptor.
A McGill University study revealed redheads can tolerate up to 25 percent more pain than people with other hair colors, and also feel less pain when pricked by a pin, a separate Oslo University study claimed.
Yet while red locks have been linked to differences in pain processing, scientists have been unable to determine the underlying reasons.
But that's not all redheads seemingly enjoy as researchers have theorized that those with auburn hair can experience pleasure differently, too.
A study from the University of Hamburg found women with red hair have the highest orgasm rate of all hair colors, at 41 percent, and have more active sex lives.
Researcher, Dr Werner Habermehl said: "The sex lives of women with red hair were clearly more active than those with other hair colour, with more partners and having sex more often than the average.
"The research shows that the fiery redhead certainly lives up to her reputation."
The doc's claims are backed up further by a 2022 Czech study which found ginger haired women had 'higher sexual desire', a 'higher number of sexual partners' and a 'higher level of sexual submissiveness', according to the Daily Mail.