Redheads Have Higher Pain Tolerance And Orgasm Rate: Here's Why

Redheaded women experience pain and pleasure differently compared to individuals with other hair colors.

In a recent Radio4 special, Professor Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, explained that redheads possess a unique genetic makeup influencing their sensitivity to pain. Specifically, they can tolerate more pain than others.

"There’s often a comment about women with ginger hair, versus not, having that different genetic basis for how they experience the threshold for pain," Tracey said, per Daily Mail.

A 2003 McGill University study found redheads can tolerate up to 25% more pain and are less sensitive to pinpricks.

This heightened pain tolerance is linked to the MC1R gene mutation, which is responsible for red hair and fair skin.

The MC1R gene provides instructions for producing the melanocortin 1 receptor, a protein that regulates melanin production, the pigment responsible for skin, hair, and eye color. Variations in this gene, common in redheads, shift melanin production from eumelanin (dark pigment) to pheomelanin (reddish-yellow pigment), resulting in red hair and fair skin, Medline Plus explained.

Beyond pain perception, this genetic variation also affects how redheads experience pleasure. A study from the University of Hamburg, cited by Daily Mail, found that redheaded women have a 41% higher orgasm rate and engage in more sexual activity than women with other hair colors.

Red hair is the rarest natural hair color, present in only 1-2% of the population, or approximately 70 to 140 million people worldwide. Scotland has the most number, with about 13% of its population having red hair, and Ireland, where 10% are redheads.

In the U.S., about 2-6% are redheads, or roughly 6 to 18 million individuals.