McGill University researchers have found that physical pain reaches its greatest increase before age 55, dismantling the belief that aches worsen linearly with old age.
The team analyzed data from more than six million people across 118 countries to chart how bodily discomfort changes throughout human life. Their findings, published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine, show that the heaviest accumulation of physical pain occurs during early and middle adulthood, specifically between the ages of 20 and 55.
To complete the large scale investigation, the scientific team compiled and harmonized health information from 902 population data sources collected across the globe between 1990 and 2025.
The researchers evaluated the presence of pain across 11 distinct anatomical locations, ranging from the head to the feet, in individuals aged between 5 and 100 years. The study also measured key variables such as pain intensity, widespread bodily pain, sex differences, and the socioeconomic background of the participants.
McGill University is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Nature Medicine is a prominent peer-reviewed medical journal that covers broad clinical research, biomedical science, and global public health studies.
Patterns of physical pain across body parts
Contrary to the traditional view that physical suffering grows continuously throughout old age, the scientific evidence shows that seven of the 11 anatomical areas analyzed follow an inverted U-shaped path. Pain in these locations reaches its peak during adulthood and subsequently declines later in life.
Study co-author Etienne Vachon-Presseau stated that pain is not a uniform phenomenon. He explained that pain manifests as a collection of distinct non-linear patterns that differ significantly in both their chronology and their anatomical distribution across the body.
The timing of maximum pain varies widely depending on the body part involved. Headaches reach their highest prevalence at age 34, whereas abdominal discomfort peaks much earlier at age 23. Discomfort in upper body areas, including the neck and shoulders, climbs to a peak around age 62 before stabilizing or dropping in subsequent years.
In contrast to head and facial symptoms, back pain and discomfort in the lower joints exhibit a steady, progressive increase across an individual's lifetime. Back pain remains the single most common physical complaint globally, affecting 40 percent of the world population. Weight-bearing joints such as the hips and knees continue to show rising rates of pain after ages 75 and 80, driven by decades of accumulated mechanical load.
In medical research, an inverted U-shaped curve describes a process where rates increase through early adulthood, reach a high point in middle age, and then decrease in senior years. Understanding these distinct trajectories helps epidemiologists differentiate between normal age-related joint wear and temporary adult pain patterns.
Gender disparities in pain prevalence and intensity
The data conclusively confirmed that women report a higher prevalence of pain than men across all 11 anatomical zones examined in the research.
The most substantial gaps between sexes were recorded in facial pain, which is 83 percent more frequent in women, and headaches, which are 74 percent more common among female participants. Abdominal pain also ranked among the areas with the widest difference between men and women.
Overall pain intensity across the population reaches its highest average level at age 48. At this peak age, women reported an average pain intensity score of 5.0 out of 10, whereas men reported an average score of 4.6 out of 10.
Sex differences in pain reporting are widely studied in healthcare, where biological factors, hormonal influences, and healthcare-seeking behaviors are recognized as contributing to variations in how men and women experience and communicate physical discomfort.
Socioeconomic factors and modifiable health risks
On a global level, the authors attributed 18.3 percent of the total pain burden to three primary modifiable risk factors: tobacco smoking, obesity, and low household income.
Obesity was found to nearly double the risk of suffering from pain in the lower extremities. The study identified a relative risk of 1.86 for knee pain and 1.91 for foot or ankle pain among individuals with obesity. Tobacco smoking was linked specifically to higher rates of facial pain, while low family income doubled the risk of experiencing chest pain.
Modifiable risk factors represent health behaviors and lifestyle conditions that can be altered or managed through medical interventions, public policy, and personal lifestyle changes, offering target areas for preventative medicine.
Public health recommendations and chronic pain prevention
The research team concluded that the most critical opportunity for preventing chronic pain occurs during young and middle adulthood. Rather than accepting physical pain as an inevitable consequence of aging, the authors emphasized that public health policies must encourage healthy lifestyle choices well before people reach age 50.
The study highlights that taking steps to prevent excess weight, avoiding tobacco consumption, and maintaining proper posture during active working years are essential actions to ensure that individuals enter older age with reduced pain and lower levels of physical disability.
Chronic pain is clinically defined as pain that persists or recurs for longer than three months. It is a major cause of disability worldwide, affecting work performance, mental health, and general quality of life.
