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‘The Curse of Curves:’ Study says curvy women more prone to pain

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – They are calling it the “Curse of Curves.”

The University of New Mexico study published in June in the journal, Human Nature, found that curvy women are more sensitive to pain than other women.

In men, it found those with broader shoulders could tolerate more pain.

“We organized about a 100 young adults, both males and females, and we basically put them through an experimental pain task,” said Jacob Vigil, an associate professor in the UNM Department of Psychology.

He said researchers tested people’s pain threshold by seeing how long they could keep their hand in uncomfortably cold water.

“So, the types of behaviors that we were measuring were, for example, the retraction of the arm from the water as well as the self-reporting of how much pain intensity the participants were experiencing at any given time,” Vigil said.

He said the results could help in the changing field of healthcare.

“We get prescribed some uniform treatment that may or may not be effective,” Vigil said. “In the future, we’re going to be much more detailed.”

For instance, Vigil said information from the UNM study could help doctors better meet people’s individual needs.