Invisible Pain

Photo by Jenna Day on Unsplash

This past summer during Spondyloarthritis Awareness Month, I started Invisible Pain with the goal of learning more about my own chronic conditions and bringing awareness to chronic pain issues that make patients feel invisible. As we come to the end of #PainAwarenessMonth, it’s important to reflect on the 60 million plus Americans for which the awareness of pain never ends. It continues daily with stiff and inflamed joints, severe muscle tension, unstable ligaments and motor control issues, chronic migraines, extreme fatigue, and countless other symptoms and comorbidities. The past month of awareness activities, advocacy, and research has reminded me why I started this project—not just to highlight my own experiences with pain, but to better educate myself from research and the connections that I am making with other pain patients. 

In the U.S. Pain Foundation’s final article this week for its #OneVoiceForPain initiative, 7 Sources of Hope: What Keeps People With Pain Moving Forward, they let patients speak for themselves about the hope that lives within the pain community today. The first category of hope was Support From Loved Ones. The greatest lesson I have learned the past few months of writing about pain is not only the importance of support from loved ones, but what drives me to move through pain is making daily connections with other people, whether about pain, hobbies, work, or other interests. The human condition thrives on connection, and we are not only better contributors to society when making connections with other humans, but we are healthier and feel better for it. For myself, while the pain never ends, having a thoughtful and enriching conversation with another person helps me forget the pain for a moment to enjoy life. 

And I’ve been enjoying life more as I have continued this writing project. It has allowed me to make new connections with like-minded people, to commiserate with those struggling with the same conditions, and to visualize the invisible pain that millions of others endure, all in an effort to advocate for better care, research, and acceptance. If you do not experience chronic pain yourself, listening to someone who does can sometimes be the best gift you can offer them. When those suffering from invisible pain have an opportunity to share their reality without fear of judgment, it builds confidence and hope that they no longer have to hide in the shadows, suffering silently and alone. Discussing vulnerabilities helps nurture deeper connections with people for both the listener and storyteller, so I encourage you to try engaging with someone who has a chronic pain condition and listen to their story. You might surprise yourself by gaining confidence during the conversation to visualize something about your own reality that is invisible, too. And in a cultural shift today that is moving backwards into more divisive and isolationist mindsets, we need more listening and understanding to help heal both physical and emotional wounds. 

If you would like to start listening to more voices of people with chronic pain, and to help make their invisible pain more visible, read the U.S. Pain Foundation’s article about what gives people hope. Below you will find a summary of the seven sources of hope collated within the article, as well as a peek into some of the blogs I plan on writing about that reflect the same seven categories. 

From the 7 Sources of Hope: What Keeps People With Pain Moving Forward: 

1. Support from Loved Ones: 

Future blog will share the challenges of making connections within a family with multiple chronic pain patients. 

2. Validation from Providers: 

I’ve touched on this subject before, but at least one more blog to come on the challenges of conversing with a dismissive provider, including one hired by an insurance company to analyze the validity of my pain. 

3. Treatment and Research Advances: 

Hear about the latest I’ve learned from Spondycast, a podcast produced by the Spondyloarthritis Association of America, about the challenges of diagnosing Spondyloarthritis and new and innovative diagnostic tests. 

4. Advocating for Others:  

The only way to make the invisible, visible, is to advocate for others. I will continue to share how I advocate for pain patients as new ideas and options arise, including in public policy. 

5. Their Own Determination and Purpose: 

More to come on my own determination and purpose that keeps me moving through pain, including driving change in the pain community, being an engaged and active family member, and living a fulfilling life. 

6. Creativity, Interests, and Small Wins: 

There will be a blog about blogging and how this project has reignited a passion for creative writing that I have missed for years. 

7. Everyday Reasons to Keep Going: 

Many more stories to come about being a dad with chronic conditions, including the challenges of parenting when both parents suffer from chronic pain. 

Copyright 2026 David Lister. All Rights Reserved.