05/09/2026
September is Chronic Pain Awareness Month.
Acute pain hurts, but there is usually an ending attached to it.
You break a bone.
You have surgery.
You get injured.
You heal.
You can tell yourself, “Just get through this. It will get better.”
Chronic pain doesn’t give you that promise. It's chronic because it continues.
There isn’t always a moment when you wake up and realize, “I’m finally better.”
Sometimes you wake up hurting.
You go to bed hurting.
You make plans around your pain.
You cancel plans because of your pain.
You push through pain.
You rest because of pain.
You try medication, therapy, doctors, procedures, exercises, heat, ice, supplements, prayers and sometimes you still hurt.
And perhaps the hardest part isn’t even the pain itself.
It’s realizing that you may have to build a life around something you desperately wish wasn’t part of your life at all.
You grieve the person you were.
You grieve the things you can no longer do.
You grieve the spontaneity.
The independence.
The plans.
The version of your future you once imagined.
And then somehow you find the strength to keep going.
You laugh.
You love.
You show up when you can.
You make memories.
You find reasons to be grateful.
You become incredibly good at saying “I’m okay” when what you really mean is “I’m trying.”
Chronic pain isn’t just pain.
It’s the emotional exhaustion of knowing you may never get a break from your own body.
It’s waking up every morning and having to figure out what your body will allow you to do today.
It’s learning to celebrate the little things other people don’t even realize are hard.
It’s surviving something that doesn’t have an expiration date.
So please, this month, don’t just be aware of chronic pain.
Be aware of the people carrying it.
Because some of the strongest people you’ll ever meet aren’t climbing mountains.
They’re simply getting out of bed, putting one foot in front of the other, and choosing to live despite the pain that never left.
If that’s you, I see you and I'd love to support you.
What is one thing you wish people understood about chronic pain?
