Pain Awareness Month 2026
LET’S CHANGE PAIN.
This Pain Awareness Month, the U.S. Pain Foundation is showing what becomes possible when the pain community comes together—across all ages, countless diagnoses, and millions of individual experiences.
Every pain story is unique. But together, those stories can become a powerful, collective voice. This September, we’re uniting them through #OneVoiceForPain, our 2026 Pain Awareness Month campaign.
Each week, we’ll build on one part of that movement: All Ages. Countless Diagnoses. Millions of Stories. One Movement. Through these themes, we’ll explore what connects us, where gaps still exist, and why breaking down silos and working together is essential to creating meaningful change for people living with pain.
Throughout the month, we’ll bring these themes to life through data and insights from our community, personal stories and perspectives, virtual events, opportunities to take action, and daily content across Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
This page is your hub for #OneVoiceForPain. Explore the campaign, find ways to get involved, and check back throughout September as new stories, resources, events, and opportunities are added.
GET INVOLVED
Make a Difference This Pain Awareness Month
Whether you share a post, attend an event, tell your story, connect with others, or speak up for change, there’s a way for everyone to take part in #OneVoiceForPain.
Share. Learn. Connect. Advocate.
THE FOUR BUILDING BLOCKS
All Ages → Countless Diagnoses → Millions of Stories → One Movement
Each week, we’ll explore one part of what brings the pain community together—and how those pieces build toward a stronger collective voice.
All Ages
Pain can affect anyone, at any stage of life.
Countless Diagnoses
Different pain diagnoses. A shared need to be heard and supported.
Millions of Stories
Every story is unique—and every voice adds to a bigger picture of pain.
One Movement
Change happens when people, communities, and organizations come together.
WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS MONTH
Throughout September, explore weekly articles, community insights, personal narratives, virtual events, and meaningful ways to take part in #OneVoiceForPain—bringing voices together to build awareness, connection, and change.
weekly Articles
Different Diagnoses, Same Struggles: 15 Experiences People With Pain Share
Different diagnoses can bring many of the same struggles. Explore 15 shared experiences that connect people living with chronic pain.
7 Voices. 7 Ages. 1 Message.
Seven voices, ages 10 to 77, share how chronic pain shapes different stages of life and what they wish others better understood.
This Pain Awareness Month, Let’s Change Pain
This Pain Awareness Month, join #OneVoiceForPain as we unite all ages, diagnoses, and stories to build greater understanding, better care, and change.
Events, Recordings, & Highlights
→ Upcoming Events
Protecting Disability Benefits After Approval: High-Risk Reviews & Investigations
Friday, Sept. 18, 2026 | 1 p.m. ET
Virtual
Some disability reviews carry a greater risk of benefit termination. This session will cover high-risk situations involving long-term disability and Social Security Disability benefits, including policy changes, medical exams, Continuing Disability Reviews, working while receiving benefits, and reporting requirements.
Making Pain Research Easier to Understand: A Listening Session
Monday, Sept. 28, 2026 | 1 p.m. ET
Virtual
Join the U.S. Pain Foundation and U.S. Association for the Study of Pain for an interactive listening session where pain researchers will hear directly from people with lived experience about how research findings can be shared more clearly, meaningfully, and usefully with the communities they serve.
→ Missed an Event? Catch Up Here
Crafting Healing Narratives
Building Your Toolbox | Sept. 9
Author and patient advocate Christie Cox explored how crafting a healing narrative can help people reflect on their experiences, communicate their stories authentically, and use storytelling for connection, self-understanding, and advocacy.
Protecting Disability Benefits After Approval: Understanding Routine Reviews
Sept. 10
Attorneys from Riemer Hess LLC, along with Mike Mellor, a lived-experience advocate, discuss what can happen after long-term disability benefits are approved, including routine reviews, documentation considerations, and steps individuals can take to help protect their benefits while living with chronic pain.
Advancing Chronic Pain Initiatives: Policy Priorities that Reach Patients
U.S. Capitol | Sept. 9
During Pain Awareness Month, U.S. Pain Foundation brought patient voices, researchers, advocates, and policy leaders together on Capitol Hill for a discussion about chronic pain research, access, care, and federal policy priorities.
Community Voices & In the News
Hear directly from people impacted by pain and explore coverage helping bring greater attention to the realities of living with pain.
RESOURCES & WAYS TO TAKE ACTION
Turn awareness into action. Explore practical resources, connect with support, learn more about living with pain, and find meaningful ways to make your voice part of #OneVoiceForPain.
Learn
Explore U.S. Pain Foundation educational resources, including Living Well guides, pacing tools, and other practical information for people with pain and their families. Explore Resources →
Connect
Find community through U.S. Pain Foundation’s free peer support groups and programs designed to help people with pain feel less alone. Find Support →
Advocate
Learn about policies affecting pain care, sign up for advocacy alerts, and discover ways to make your voice heard at the state and federal levels. Take Action →
Get Involved
Share campaign content, attend an event, tell your story, raise awareness in your community, and explore other ways to participate in Pain Awareness Month. See 7 Ways to Get Involved →
Pain Awareness Month Proclamations
This September, advocates across the country are helping bring #OneVoiceForPain into their own communities by requesting official Pain Awareness Month proclamations from states, cities, and towns. Each proclamation helps shine a light on the impact of chronic pain and adds another voice to the call for greater awareness, understanding, and change.
Explore 2026 Proclamations ↓
Arizona
Kansas
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Georgia
VIEW PAST CAMPAIGNS
Each year tells a story. Revisit past themes that gave voice to pain.
The U.S. Pain Foundation is grateful to our 2026 Corporate Council members for their continued support of our mission and the pain community.
Their support helps us listen to and learn from people living with pain across ages and diagnoses, elevate lived experience, gather meaningful insights, and bring those voices together through #OneVoiceForPain.
Together, we are building greater awareness, understanding, and momentum for change—because creating a better future for people with pain takes one movement.
Eli Lilly | Kenvue | Lexicon Pharmaceuticals | Salix Pharmaceuticals | Sobi Pharma | Tonix | Tris Pharma | Vertex Pharmaceuticals | Viatris
