Why Women Feel Cold More Intensely Than Men

Blood flow and hormonal responses trigger women’s bodies to signal to them that they’re cold. Men, on the other hand, don’t have the same receptors or hormones that cause women to experience enhanced sensitivities to cold temperatures. Keep reading for the scientific and medicinal reasons why women feel cold more intensely than men.

Vascularity

Some people have issues with vascularity and their blood flow due to low levels of activity—which is needed to keep circulation active—or due to something genetic that causes their vascular systems to respond negatively. Women’s bodies have similar responses during colder periods of the year, as their vascular systems send most of their blood into the core of their bodies, leaving their extremities freezing cold. Therefore, it’s important for women to wear women’s thermal wear in the colder months along with hats, gloves, and anything else that will ensure they stay warm.

Muscle Mass

Most women don’t have as much muscle mass as men do. Some women do have a lot of muscle mass; however, it tends to be situated around the hips and legs due to their lower center of gravity. Muscle also tends to build most quickly in the strongest areas of the body.

In short, it’s generally harder for women’s bodies to produce as much heat for as long as men do. It’s also believed that women’s blood shunts to the core of the body as a biological response to the cold to protect their wombs.

Hormonal Changes

Menstrual cycles cause changes in women’s hormones, which makes them experience cold conditions much more intensely. When a woman is menstruating, her estrogen levels are elevated, which then sends signals from the brain to the body that bring the vascular system almost to a halt, often making cold conditions nearly unbearable.

Women feel cold more intensely than men due to a multitude of reasons, but most of it has to do with genetics, vascularity or muscle mass, or hormones.