What’s the most striking, surprising, or interesting thing you learned today/yesterday, and why? by Stephanie Voss

Editor’s Note: “What’s the most striking, surprising, or interesting thing you learned today/yesterday, and why?” That’s the question we asked the NAPS Science Communicators to address in their first post at NAPS after arriving on Sunday and experiencing the first full day on Monday. Here’s what NAPS Science Communicator Stephanie Voss from Mass General Brigham had to say on the matter.

“Hi everyone! I’m so excited to be here at NAPS. We just completed our first full day complete with yoga, amazing food, trainee and faculty talks on pain science, and a bonfire!

The most surprising thing I learned was from fellow NAPSter Batu Kaya’s talk on sex, gender, body image, and pain, especially within the context of gender-affirming surgery.

Apparently, compared to women who receive mastectomy surgery for breast cancer, people who receive gender-affirming top surgery experience significantly less post-surgical pain. This occurs even if they experience more pain prior to surgery. One of the primary differences between mastectomy and gender-affirming top surgery, despite similar procedures, is receiving surgery that may either disaffirm, or affirm, one’s body image with their gender identity.

This is really important data with widespread implications for the role of body image and gender identify in pain care. Batu’s work is amazing — check it out!”