“Women are better at handling hot objects than men” Differences in how men and women perceive heat and pain discovered / Research team led by Professor Kim Jung-kyung (Department of Mechanical Engineering)
- 25.04.17 / 이정민
Jinu Suk and Professor Kim Jung-kyung
The Bio-Medical Device Research Laboratory (Head Professor: Kim Jung-kyung, Department of Mechanical Engineering) at Kookmin University (President Seung-ryul Jeong) has discovered differences between men and women in how they perceive heat and pain when touching hot surfaces.
The Bio-Medical Device Research Laboratory at Kookmin University developed a new method to visualize how heat spreads through the skin when in contact with a hot object, enabling the measurement of skin temperature distribution on the object's surface. The laboratory conducted an experiment where healthy adults pressed their fingers against a heated smooth glass surface, varying the surface temperature from 50°C to 70°C—a range where warmth can be felt as heat—and uncovered an interesting finding: men's finger skin tends to heat up faster and more unevenly.
Particularly at the highest temperature (70°C), these “hot spots” caused men to reach their pain threshold more quickly, resulting in more severe pain. In contrast, women's finger skin heated up more slowly and adapted more efficiently, meaning they felt discomfort or pain later than men even when exposed to the same heat.
This study suggests that women's thicker, more elastic skin may act as a factor that slows heat transfer and delays pain responses. Additionally, the research team discovered that spatial summation—the way heat spreads—plays a larger role in men's pain responses at high temperatures. This study was published in the April issue of the academic journal Journal of Thermal Biology.
Jin Woo Suk, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering and the lead author of the paper, said, “Seventy percent of the men who participated in the experiment reported pain within one minute after touching a 70°C surface with their fingers, but only 30% of the female participants showed such a response.”
Professor Jung-Kyung Kim, the research supervisor, emphasized, “These gender differences in skin thermal sensation go beyond being merely interesting basic research findings. They can help design wearable electronic devices such as human assistive devices, heated seats, smartwatches, and virtual reality devices to be safer and more comfortable to use.” He also noted, “Maintaining skin temperature changes within 10°C can reduce the risk of pain during heat exposure, and these findings can be applied across various industries, from healthcare to automotive design.”
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This content is translated from Korean to English using the AI translation service DeepL and may contain translation errors such as jargon/pronouns. If you find any, please send your feedback to kookminpr@kookmin.ac.kr so we can correct them.
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“Women are better at handling hot objects than men” Differences in how men and women perceive heat and pain discovered / Research team led by Professor Kim Jung-kyung (Department of Mechanical Engineering) |
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2025-04-17
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Jinu Suk and Professor Kim Jung-kyung
The Bio-Medical Device Research Laboratory (Head Professor: Kim Jung-kyung, Department of Mechanical Engineering) at Kookmin University (President Seung-ryul Jeong) has discovered differences between men and women in how they perceive heat and pain when touching hot surfaces.
The Bio-Medical Device Research Laboratory at Kookmin University developed a new method to visualize how heat spreads through the skin when in contact with a hot object, enabling the measurement of skin temperature distribution on the object's surface. The laboratory conducted an experiment where healthy adults pressed their fingers against a heated smooth glass surface, varying the surface temperature from 50°C to 70°C—a range where warmth can be felt as heat—and uncovered an interesting finding: men's finger skin tends to heat up faster and more unevenly. Particularly at the highest temperature (70°C), these “hot spots” caused men to reach their pain threshold more quickly, resulting in more severe pain. In contrast, women's finger skin heated up more slowly and adapted more efficiently, meaning they felt discomfort or pain later than men even when exposed to the same heat.
This study suggests that women's thicker, more elastic skin may act as a factor that slows heat transfer and delays pain responses. Additionally, the research team discovered that spatial summation—the way heat spreads—plays a larger role in men's pain responses at high temperatures. This study was published in the April issue of the academic journal Journal of Thermal Biology.
Jin Woo Suk, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering and the lead author of the paper, said, “Seventy percent of the men who participated in the experiment reported pain within one minute after touching a 70°C surface with their fingers, but only 30% of the female participants showed such a response.”
Professor Jung-Kyung Kim, the research supervisor, emphasized, “These gender differences in skin thermal sensation go beyond being merely interesting basic research findings. They can help design wearable electronic devices such as human assistive devices, heated seats, smartwatches, and virtual reality devices to be safer and more comfortable to use.” He also noted, “Maintaining skin temperature changes within 10°C can reduce the risk of pain during heat exposure, and these findings can be applied across various industries, from healthcare to automotive design.”
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