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Roshida Khanom, Mintel beauty and personal care analyst, told the Daily Telegraph: "Women are more likely to have a headache but also to do something about it, to not let pain get in the way. Men are more likely to try and "man up" but complain about it."

But the market research specialist added that the growing technology we use in our daily lives could also be having negative effects on our health.

Students are more likely to have suffered a headache than any other age group - 76 per cent - in part because of workload but also because of the time spent on laptops and staring at smartphones. Ms Khanom said: "With all the talk about youth unemployment it's a stressful time to be a student and they are also spending far more time glued to a screen of some description. It's fair to say of course that yes, some of the headaches will be hangovers."

Three years ago, leading psychologists claimed women are 50 per cent more likely to suffer headaches, neck, shoulder, knee and back pain. Dr Jennifer Kelly of the Atlanta Centre for Behavioural Medicine said hormones meant women were also far more likely to suffer various types of pain at the same time.

Mintel said the non-prescription market is worth just under £600 million. More people are turning to pain relief creams, gels and sprays with sales of topical analgesics up 5 per cent in the past year.