More on the MC1R Gene, Red Hair, and Pain Tolerance
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
Well I think it’s true! I’m a redhead and it can be below 70 degrees and I start freezing! People always laugh but I feel like I’m stuck in a freezer when the weather drops. And I live in a desert and when the temperature gets above 95, I get absolutely miserable and my cheeks get flushed and I burn extremely easily.
Wow, I have to agree with aliss about the whole tempurture thing. I’m not what you would call a red head in the normal sense. My hair is not auburn or orange. It is strawberry blond with hardly any red. But my father is a red head also. He and I are always complaning of temperature extremes when it doesn’t seem to bother anyone else.
I am a redhead that is almost impossible to get any relief from dental pain. It takes at least 60/40 nitrous oxide to help ease the [ain of dentistry. Some Dentists are not comfortable with this, so it is easier to be in horrible pain, than mess with anything any less. It just aggravates the pain.
My wife is a pure redhead and she complains of temperatures below 68 F and above 78F. I am darker complected and can be comfortable from 45 F to 90 F.
Interestingly, she also doesn’t sweat. At the most, she will become “moist,” whereas I sweat profusely during exercise.
Anyone else experience this?
I am a pure redhead, with red facial hair, green eyes and the works. I exercise alot and, I dont ever seem to sweat much, even after going all out. As for temperature I hate cold weather, the heat doesnt bother me much, but excess sun kills me.
I am a redhead and I LOVE the cold hate the heat and have a high threashold for pain. I burn easy in the sun but not a lot of pain just really red.
I am a redhead from a long line of redheads. I also have a saying in my household that anything under 90 degrees is sweats weather. I agree with the dental pain experienced by merrin231. I always thought that was just me, that it wasn’t associated with my hair color.
I have naturally red hair, green eyes, fair skin, freckels. I had a nightmarish experience with an epidural, during my 1st labor, I opted to have one , so at first everything seemed fine, I felt my legs go numb and get heavy, I was told it would last for 8 hours, it lasted 20 minutes, I asked for more medication, so they had to do the epidural again , since the first anastesiologist didn’t place a line in my spine to deliver more medication, so as much as I didn’t want to go throught that again, the pain I was in from labor, outweighed my fear, so they bring in a different person this time and she does the epidural and was able to place a line that time, so only one leg goes numb and the intensity of the medicine was much greater then the first time, its such a crazy scary feeling I don’t know how to describe it, so they tilt me to one side and after a few minutes the other half goes numb , and then my skin started to burn, like I was on fire from head to toe, and it felt like millions of ants were crawling on me and then as if that feeling isnt bad enough I get nausous and start dry heaving, every 2 minutes, and then say 45 minutes in I start to feel my contractions again, althought they were not as intense. so for the next 6/7 hours, I suffered threw dry heaving every two minutes, burning skin, that felt like bugs were crawling over me, and contractions every 3 to 5 minutes, , My back has never been the same, I now have back pain everyday. so needless to say I will never, ever have an epidural again,
Like my grandmother, I’m a strawberry blonde. I have blue/grey/green eyes depending on the day/mood/colors around me. I tanned as a child and teen — never burned, but no more!
As for temperatures, 74 is cool to me. I rarely break a sweat — even when I was in basic military training. Crazy, huh?!
I’m a redhead I never seem to sweat but when it is below 90 I freeze and people think I am weird for it. I am always cold when it is below 90. And I’m the only redhead in the family weird Huh?
aliss-i am EXACTLY the same way, and i have red hair, green eyes, pale skin, the works…and i freeze when it’s below 65 or so.
Not me. I’m not even chilly when everyone else say they’re freezing. But I did need 2 epidurals for the pain during my son’s delivery & must be numbed for dental cleanings.
I’m a readhead with green eyes, fair skin and a few freckles, but I don’t know if I have this MC1R gene. I’ve never needed any kind of medicine during an operation at the dentist, and I’ve never needed any kind of painkillers after a fight (I do martial arts).
My mum has brown hair, and my father had red hair the first 20 years of his life, but he now has brown hair as well.
I don’t think these tests are true, IF I have the MC1R gene. But who knows…
Where do I find out if I have the MC1R gene?
I have red curly hair, green eyes, freckles, and a red complexion. I can’t stand the heat, but I’m very resistant to cold. I’m comfortable in shorts and flip-flops when other people are bundled up and complaining of the cold. When it’s too hot though, I am miserable and pretty much have to shut down.
I’m also fairly resistant to various types of sharp pain. I can knocked pretty hard and not show a reaction.
Forgot to say. I also sweat profusely when exercising and turn bright red (even more than usual) to the point where sometimes people think I’m drunk or having health problems.
I am a strawberry blond, blue eyes, slightly fair skin. As I have had a couple of kids and aged, my skin is less sensitive to the sun. But I don’t tan well. I have a tendency to burn, peel and go white again. I do have a low tolerance for pain, I have been known to pass out in cases of sudden painful trauma to myself. (ie, popping my toenail off, long embarrassing story). I do respond to pain meds pretty well, but am very sensitive to dental work, and usually require more ansthesia than most. I had successful epidurals with both of my children, but they wear off quickly. Am not a huge sweater, nor do I produce much “BO.” My body tempurature is easily affected, I do not like the cold, would prefer hot. I don’t flush red.
I had an epidural and it did not take and then had to have an emergency C section because my blood pressure bottomed out. My baby’s heartbeat dropped to 81. We are both okay now, but it was pretty scary. Good luck redheads. My advice is to take the pain! LOL
OK by the numbers.
First my cold and heat tolerance is WAY above everyone i know, id be bare foot, in shorts and a T-shirt all year round given the choice!
Pain tolerance in general, it is a danger to me it is so high. I have to do a self inspection to make sure if I’m bleeding and if so, from where because i don’t feel the sting.
The offset is that pain killers of all kinds do very little for me.
Anaesthesia, is a joke! it wears off during surgery and recovery time is under an hour.
Redheads are more sensitive to ultraviolet light, which is why they burn more easily in the sun, and it predisposes them to skin cancer.
I burn way easy its not uncommon to find that I have 2nd or 3rd degree burns if i go to many days to the lake. I’m in my 34 so time will tell on the cancer.
Redheads have a fiery temper! and then some but with work and focus it can be gotten under control.
What was left out was bone density.
I have never broken a bone and I should have more times then I can count. Recently I rolled a car and completely destroyed it. Emergency personal to insurance adjusters were in complete aw that anyone survived, I got out and crawled up the 20 foot ravine on my own with bruises.
Also I can count the amount of times I have been sick my entire life on one hand and never have gotten any childhood disease.
As far as I am concerned odd is good.
I am also a fellow Red head green eyes, I brown up quite easy and hate the heat! I love and function much better in the cold, I am from New Zealand and cannot even sleep unless the room is cold.
About a year ago a smashed my patella “Knee Cap” into six little bits it really really hurt, I was still able to function and concentrate immediately after the accident and yes I definitely have a fiery temper, that has it ups and downs but unless you are trying to survive, it is mostly down sided in today’s society. I tend to be a bit stronger than guys a bit bigger than myself especially if I am angry.
I am a full redhead. Light skin, freckles, green eyes, red facial hair. I can’t stand high or low temps, 72 is just about perfect. My biggest concern is with pain. I have had two back surgerys, L4-L5, & L5-S1. I just recently hurt my calf playing football and the dr. put me on oxycodone. It did nothing. I was taking 2 every 4 hours and still had large amount of pain. When I had my wisdom teeth pulled they gave me some pill to relax me. Other people were coming in (carried in) and I felt nothing. they gave me another one that did nothing. When they started the IV the dr told me to count backwards from 100. When I reached 61 he later told me it was a record, when he found out I had 2 of the other pills he about pooped his pants. Is this normal??
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!
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.
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.
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!
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…
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!”
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…
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.
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?
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’.
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
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
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.
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
I’m a redhead and I don’t really sweat that much either. If I exercise when it’s really hot then I might get a little damp, but not as much as most people seem to.
Maybe you’re on to something there!
wow – I thought it was just me.
My fiance is Hispanic – dark hair, darker skin – and he SWEATS. doesn’t take much. I can dance all night and just be “moist”.
I never really thought to attribute it to being a red head.
I am very interested in the pain research though. I have been having a hell of a time getting my doctor to listen to me about my pain issues.
It’s at least nice to know there are others in the same boat on a lot of these issues
I’m red haired and fair skinned/green eyes. I exercise with my sister and she says it’s working if you are sweating (I know she’s wrong) but now I have an argument to that ridiculous statement, because I hardly sweat no matter how hard I’m working out! My face does get red though.
I have had this same problem with the dentist (many times) too. I didn’t know it was because I was a redhead and probably carry the gene. I come from a long line of redheads…
At the dentist, they give me the numbing shot, wait the ten minutes or so and start the procedure, but I’m not numb yet, so another shot, then another shot. Finally, I went to a new dentist and his first question was, “Since you are red haired and fair skinned, are you more sensitive to pain?” I about fell out of the chair! He was the first doctor or dentist to ever ask me that. Anyway, he gave me a much higher dose and I only needed one shot from there on out.
Also, as a redhead, green eyes, fair skin- my eyes (lids) have always been very sensitive to light (they water uncontrollably). It is even painful when the optometrist shines the light in my eyes. And my fingertips are very sensitive to heat and cold ‘to touch’.
Same here!! i am a natural redhead, and i just ran 3 miles and didn’t even break a sweat. i barely ever sweat even after a whole day at the gym, when my face matches my hair and my head feels as if it will explode…yet just a little damp in the pits. weird wild stuff.