South-east Asia's first pain centre for women will be open in Singapore from June 7.

The KKH Women's Pain Centre will be dedicated to offering women alternative treatment for their aches and pains without the need for open surgery.

It will use soft laser technology to regenerate tissue and help heal injuries like muscle sprains and tears in ligaments and tendons for instance. A hospital statement said that 'what would normally take months to heal can now be healed in a few days'.

Treatment methods will include minimally invasive pain procedures like laser injection, which treats pain by desensitising painful nerves in the area. Oral medication and therapy to help the patient make behavioural and lifestyle changes will also be prescribed to help manage pain.

Conditions to be treated include back and joint pains, menopausal pains, pelvic pains such as endometriosis, abdominal pains, as well as cancer pain, slipped discs, sports injuries, arthritis, shingles and migraines.

Why a clinic specially for women? Studies have shown that women experience more neck, shoulder, joint pains and backaches compared to men and also suffer more from migraine and osteoarthritis because of genetic, psychological and hormonal factors, with oestrogen playing a role in many pain conditions.

This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times on Apr 23, 2008.