The Best New Pain Cures For Women

You’ve got achy shoulders from carrying the kids, the groceries, or your incredibly heavy handbag. You look for the right pill to pop, but what should you take? Aspirin? Ibuprofen? Or, you’re about to get your period. You know you’ll get killer cramps or that nasty headache any minute now, but nothing you take seems to help once the pain hits.

You’re not alone: Many women have a tough time finding the right kind of relief for their pain—and for good reason: Until recently, experts hadn’t actually studied women’s pain specifically, and most research wasn’t conducted with a woman’s hormones and physique in mind. All that’s changing, though. Docs now know that to banish our aches, they must develop treatments formulated for women’s bodies. What’s more, researchers are also looking for—and finding—ways to head pain off at the pass, so those of us with chronic troubles like migraine, fibromyalgia, or backache don’t have to be hobbled by pain on a daily basis. Here, how the new research will help you live an (almost) pain-free life.