Redheads are popular study subjects. Once again, scientists have found that redheads, carriers of a particular variant of the melanocortin-1 receptor gene (MC1R), appear more sensitive to pain and temperature than darker haired folk.
In a study that I would have to be paid good money to volunteer for, scientists attached heating elements (maybe something like curling irons?!) to the arms of 60 redheaded volunteers and 60 with dark hair to test their tolerance to temperature. Redheads started reporting pain from cold temperatures at 6°C higher than dark-haired subjects. Professor Daniel Sessler, director of the Outcomes Research Institute and department of anaesthesiology at Louisville University, believes that variations in the MC1R gene may over-activate temperature-detecting genes, thus making carriers more sensitive to thermal pain.
Other special characteristics of redheads (some anecdotal):
- Anaesthesia often fail or unusually high doses of local anaesthetics are required to achieve adequate analgesia in redheads.
- Redheads are more resistant to the effects of lidocaine, a common local anaesthetic.
- Redheads are more sensitive to ultraviolet light, which is why they burn more easily in the sun, and it predisposes them to skin cancer.
- Redheads have a fiery temper, which may have helped give them the aggression they needed to survive in the harsh northern climates.
Professor Ian Jackson, from the MRC Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, said:
Nearly half of the population in Scotland now carry the genes that code for red hair, so any disadvantage must be fairly mild or outweighed by its benefits.”
One of the benefits mentioned was that greater sensitivity to cold may have helped protect redheaded individuals in colder climates by making them seek shelter and wrap up against the elements before their dark-haired counterparts. I’m not sure I buy this person-as-thermometer explanation but I can’t come up with a better one right now.
Scotland on Sunday, September 11, 2005
that’s true – i have strawberry blonde hair and red beard, mother red hair, grandmother strawberry blonde… i always have trouble at the dentist… i can always feel anesthetic wareing off and always always feel really sick after… i was so convinced that i thought i was allergic to the particular pain killer they used… so they used a different one and although i still feel it ware off i dont feel sick anymore… i broke a finger and didn’t realise for two weeks (it just got bigger and bigger so i thought i’d better check it out) also i broke 2 ribs at rugby and didn’t realise for over a year – from x-ray they said it had healed itself and there was nothing further they could do… also i have amazing immunity – i am just never ever ill, if i have common cold i hardly feel it and its gone in day or two… i will tan a little but stay in the sun too long and my face will just become littered with freckles… considering redheads make up only roughly 2-3% of european population, an extraordinary number of warriors of myth,legend,history of europe seem to have red hair… eric the red (among countless other viking warriors), achilles, boudicca… i could go on and on…. also i am very temperature sensitive – if i go from hot to cold or cold to hot i always need a wee wee immediately… my skin is hot to touch, i have fast rate of metabolism – and i like to sleep cold – i hate the heat and cant cope above 30 dgrees celcius – everybody says my house cold – i think theirs hot and i think it is terrible waste of energy lol… everyone is saying the same things here – i think it is fascinating stuff… cheers – power to all redheads – be proud, very proud we are of great stock! peace to all!
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I’m a natural readhead – it’s sort of a medium reddy-orange with natural blonde streaks – with medium skin and a few freckles. I’m paler than some, but a medium pale, not china white. I don’t tan per se, but my skin gets a shade or so darker in the sun, then it’ll freckle a bit. I have a few freckles on my forearms, none anywhere else, though I guess that’s from staying out of the sun when I was little.
I’ve always had a high pain threshold, high enough for people to comment on it. When I was younger, my family could always tell if I’d hurt myself severely when they heard a thump followed by laughter. I’ve broken toes, metacarpals, metatarsals, two ribs, my arm, and dislocated my shoulder without crying. Although I did snarl/bare my teeth a lot when my shoulder got “relocated”. I’m not sure why I have such a high tolerance for pain, but if I had to guess I would say I got it from my parents, both of whom always manage pain well. My two brothers are different – I would say the one two years older than me has a medium threshold, while the one 6 years older has a fairly low one.
As for temperature tolerance, I seem to be one of those people that’re always running hot. My house is usually quite cold(or so I’ve been told by freezing guests) and when I was younger, my parent’s house was always cold too(or so I was told then). Usually I’ll be overheating like a pro if I’m at someone’s house and they have the heating on. However I adjust pretty fast to the heat on holiday, like the 40C heat in Greece. For a few hours after I get there I’ll be sprawled on a bed thinking, “My god it’s too hot, there’s no way I can cope with this for 2 months”. But after a while I’m fine for the rest of the holiday.
I do have a temper, but I don’t think that has anything to do with being a redhead – more to do with growing up with two older brothers. You gotta fight hard to let them know they can’t run rings around you :D
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i think that redheads are more sensitive to pain,maybe due to more sensitive skin, but because of this as we get older we tend to build a better tolerance to pain, havingfelt it more. as kids though were probably whinnier,now that i think about it im the only one that complains when moving from a hotter to a colder room,often getting the chills for a second. i think its that first transition that is uncomfortable,no one else really seems to notice it,like when you go outside for the first time and its really cold, ill start shivering for a second but then ill be fine.
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my name is Mal, i am a 22 year old female with red hair (not orange) i get comments on how beautiful my hair is but i dont really know how to describe it. i also have brown eyes, and dark skin, i actually tan very easy, and rarley burn. last december i was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer, they found in a mole. Needless to say i metabolis the lidocane very fast which seems to be commen with the other redheads on this site, so by the time they took off my melanoma, i could feel them stiching me back up. I also need more novicane with dental work. This is so crazy that there are other people going through the same things as me. I dont feel alone :)
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I can’t believe you listed agression as if it’s a genetic trait of red-heads. Isn’t it time to leave pre-1940’s thinking behind and get a reality check? If red-heads do have a pattern of agression, its probably from environmental causes – idiots like you stereotyping us under faux scientific empiricism. Saying we’re only from “cold northern climates” is false too – red hair occurs naturally in Africa and across Asia.
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Disagree. I’m a redhead. I comfortably swim in water to 55 degrees. No one else I know will get in.
I also have a high tolerance of pain
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i have dark red hair and i do get cold easy but what about phyical pain it seems that i can take a lot moer pain than most. as far as being put under i dont know i have not been put under but 2 times. so i would like to know if the results differ on the coler of red hair and is this the same for men
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Also a true redhead, I don’t sweat, very fine hair on arms & legs, sensitivity to light, anesthesia, pain, and unusually prescient or weird enough for people to wonder. My thought: the canaries to the ‘clan’.
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My hair color is bright strawberry blond, with very fair, always burnable skin, and blue eyes. I have occassionaly experienced the fast fading of dental numbing, but not always. The 2 things that I have noted that have been the most difficult are 1) the nipple pain of nursing my babies was extreme…those red nipples were very sensitive! and 2) I tend to get very sick and vomit rather excessively when coming out of anthesia following surgeries. It’s happened every single time! Most nurses claimed that they couldn’t understand why I was so sick, but the last time, the nurse said..”Oh, you are a red-head. That’s why!” As far as the “temper” goes…maybe we are sensitive to emotional hurt, too?
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[...] a Comment // My sister is a redhead. When we were about 11 and 13 years old, we went together to get our ears pierced. She almost [...]
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Im a red head, I’m not too sure about the temperature difference, I dont mind under freezing or extreme heats, I think it depends on where you live. The anesthetic is definitely true. Iv had 9 freezings at the dentist before we gave up and I just bore the pain of having a tooth drilled.
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I have thick red hair, green eyes, pale-ish skin, the works – and I don’t really think all this extra-sensitivity to pain really applies to me. I never need pain medication during dental surgery, and if anything, anathesia/laughing gas/etc seems to have more of an effect on me than on other people. (Maybe my doctors have been giving me more to make-up for this assumption?)
And heat definitely doesn’t bother me – if anything I prefer heat to cold. In the summer where I live now, it ofter gets into the 90s/100s, and I find the heat relaxing sometimes – it’s like wearing a blanket. I do prefer to sleep in the cold, but that’s mostly because I like cuddling up in comforters. Makes me wonder about these studies and how comprehensive they truly are…
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[...] hate that phrase. To me, a little pinch hurts like a mother! Before you continue to judge me, maybe this or this will shed some light on my low pain [...]
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Although I’m not a obvious redhead (I have dark brown hair, dark brown eyes and light olive skin), I consider myself a closet redhead. My understanding of red hair is that it isn’t actually one gene in itself, but is rather passed by a group of six markers. If you inherit some markers from both parents then you are a redhead; from only one parent, you are a carrier (sounds like a disease/it is a mutation). Depending on which and how many markers, you may have various shades of red hair, different colors of skin, and other variations. The more markers possibly the lighter you are. This would account for my grandmother’s family where all 6 kids had different shades of red and different skin tones and eye colors. Her mother was a definite Scottish red, her father Dutch blonde. I have real problems with pain meds on the right side of my body. It always takes twice the anesthesia on that side. And I HATE the heat.
On the other hand, my husband is also a closet redhead, though he won’t admit it. He has medium blonde hair but a red beard. He HATES the cold and has worked our entire marriage to get and keep me in the hottest climes. He has two obviously red-headed sisters, one light red, the other a carrot-top. All of them freckle and burn like crazy! Their father was blonde, then red, then light brown, and he never exactly tans. He freckles, then the freckles grow and grow until they touch and he looks tanned. Their paternal grandmother was Swiss-red. My husband’s mother was mostly German/Norweigen honey-blonde, blue-eyed and white skin that never tanned or burned no matter how long she was in the sun, but she carried the markers.
Between us we have three children, 2 neon white skinned, obvious redheads with blue eyes, and one brunette, khaki-eyed with my darker skin. All deal with pain issues, but my red-headed daughter (wouldn’t you know it) has always been so tender-headed I couldn’t easily comb or brush her beautiful hair for years. They all dislike the cold like their father.
My mom likes to say that all the redheads on earth are related through the Celts, who she says were originally warring nomads (there’s your temper) and cannibals. Ha! Ha! Their remains have even been found in Mongolia.
Although there are some scientists who predict that reds are going to disappear in a couple of decades, I think there will always be reds popping up from time to time. They are being sought out by ethnically darker people, such as mid-easterners, because of their rare beauty and this is the stated problem. I would love to see a centralized dating database ONLY for natural reds where they could find each other, no offense intended. As my daughter always says, “Reds Rule!”
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I am a redhead, love the colder weather. Insist on a cold room to sleep. Detest the heat and very rarely sweat. I too have a high tolerance to pain medication, as do my two redheaded daughters! A twist here though, even though I have fair skin and freckles, I tan easily…
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I have a very high tolerance for the cold, in fact, probably the highest over everyone else that I know. I like to play in the snow in a T-shirt. Though, at the other extreme (heat) I get really uncomfortable…please just stay below 90.
I also have a high pain tolerance. When I was little we used to have pinching and slapping contests – weird, I know – and often withstood more pain than others. Oh, and I LOVE the dentist! :)
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I, too, can’t stand heat, have to have a cold room to sleep, have high pain tolerance, and struggle with getting proper pain relief. Most medical personnel think I’m just trying to con them for a drug habit. Not so! Thanks for confirming I’m not crazy. Meds take a long time to take effect, wear off fast and at normal dosages, do not provide total pain relief.
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[...] you pay $119 to test for red hair gene?DR A.Byanaku on Free Online Public Health CoursesKris on More on the MC1R Gene, Red Hair, and Pain ToleranceTejal on Boy or Girl? Home DNA Test For Baby’s Genderpriya on Commercially Available DNA [...]
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i am a true-pain in the arse-redhead. My hair was med red through childhood/young adult; it is now dark red and I’m 48. I have hazel eyes, some light freckling and medium skin tone. I tan medium well(sounds like I’m a steak)
I have found my entire life, that I hurt more, feel cold more, can’t tolerate heat over 100 for more than 15 minutes, have cardiovascular collapse with 60 mg of codeine (2 t-3’s), can’t get proper coverage with injectable lidocaine, takes a loooong time to get adequate general anesthetization, and cannot no how, get proper pain control on narcotics. Most doctors disbelieve the amount of pain I report and think I’m making it up.
I have felt like a total wimp and have thought I’m a whiner, and just wanted attention,my whole life. After reading these anecdotes, I know i’m not alone.
when cut or have surgery, my bleeding is inexplicablely more than normal. Hence the bruising and swelling continues for twice as long.
Why dont’ they teach this stuff in med school? I have some on going musculoskeletal issues and I feel like such a wimp addressing these with my doc.
These posts above mine, were a good read. Nice to see anecdotal evidence.
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I too am a redhead although it’s a little darker than it used to be. I also have a fair complexion, hazel to blue eyes depending on the weather and season, and have no freckles.
I have my house set so that it is warm most of the time. I get cold very easily. In hot weather, I’m ok if I sit in the shade away from the sun. If not, a total lobster. I’m sure you know what that’s like.
As for my tolerance of pain, luckily the only problems I’ve needed anesthesia for is when my teeth need to be fixed. I once had 2 abcessed teeth and needed both taken out at the same time. The oral surgeon told me (I was 9 at the time) that we couldn’t use Anesthesia because it would interfere with the abcess. So I had both taken out with no pain killer. He said I did much better than the people who usually have anesthesia.
Cheers to all of you!
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