Redheads 'feel more pain' than dark-haired people

Published Mar 26 2012, 20:12 BST  |  By Paul Millar

Redheads are affected more by physical pain than dark-haired people, it has been claimed.

Those with ginger hair have a lower-than-normal pain threshold, according to a study at Southampton University Hospital.

Electric shocks will be given to recruited volunteers to prove the validity of the research.

US and Danish studies have previously found a link between the gene that determines hair colour and the production of endorphins, the body's natural painkiller.

Dr Edwin Liem told The Daily Telegraph: "Redheads experience more pain from a given stimulus and therefore require more anaesthesia to alleviate that pain.

"The art and science of anaesthesiology is determining just the right amount of anaesthesia to achieve unconsciousness, pain tolerance and suppression of memory without causing adverse consequences, such as cardiac or pulmonary complications.

"Red hair is apparently an important element in this decision."

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