Category: Back Pain | Author: Stefano Sinicropi | Date: March 29, 2026
We always tell patients that it’s important they seek out a provider who is willing to really listen to them and understand the unique challenges they are facing when it comes to back pain. This is especially true for women in light of some recent findings out of the United Kingdom. Below, we explain why women may have some additional challenges compared to men when working to overcome their spine pain.
Sex Differences In Spine Pain Treatment
According to new research out of the UK, women may be receiving worse treatment for back and neck pain because their experiences are not factored into the “male by default” clinical guidelines. Although these findings are based on data from the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, it’s likely that women in the United States face similar challenges. As a colleague of mine recently wrote, many women may be wearing the wrong type of running shoe because the shoe was designed with a male’s foot in mind. Instead of creating a similar but distinct type of shoe with a woman’s unique foot shape in mind, the male model shoe is simply converted with a “shrink it and pink it” mindset.
A similar issue may be at play when it comes to back pain, where the unique challenges women face aren’t always factored into the treatment equation. According to the review, which focused on clinical guidance for back pain, researchers found that by consistently only referring to people, individuals or patients, clinical guidance in the UK ignores the role women’s different skeletal size, hormones, experience of pregnancy or menopause can play in musculoskeletal pain.
Researchers noted that something like inadequate support for a woman’s breast size could amplify the back and neck pain issues she’s having, or her discomfort could be tied to the biological demands on the spine as it adapts to pregnancy or childbirth. Lauren Haworth, research associate at the University of Lancashire and lead author of the study, said that “women may still be disadvantaged simply because their biological needs differ from those of men.”
The study calls for the government’s women’s health strategy to ensure the sex-specific biological factors are transparently considered when developing clinical care guidelines for men and women. Of course, the study doesn’t mean that women are always given suboptimal treatment guidelines because their biological differences are not accounted for, but there is an opportunity for doctors and staff to provide more efficient care.
The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence released a statement following the publication of the research, which said: “Our guidelines encourage doctors to tailor care to each person’s individual needs, and we welcome research that helps us improve the guidance we provide. We will consider these findings carefully as part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring our guidance is useful, usable, and works for everyone.”
At the end of the day, it’s imperative that you connect with a physician who will really take the time to get to know you and the unique challenges you face. Whether that is due to your biology, your unique work demands or your individual goals for your future, we want to develop a care plan with only you in mind. Dr. Sinicropi and the team at Midwest Spine & Brain Institute have been doing that for patients for years, and we’d be honored if we could do the same for you. For more information, give our team a call today at (651) 430-3800.
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