The pain you can’t see: Australians urged to look beyond the number this September

31 August 2026

The pain you can’t see: Australians urged to look beyond the number this September

As International Pain Awareness Month begins this September, Painaustralia is asking Australians to recognise the often-hidden impact of chronic pain and better understand the reality of living with pain every single day.

On 1 September, Painaustralia’s Wear Red for Pain campaign will bring Australians together to raise awareness of a condition affecting 4.2 million adults – many of whom manage the impact of pain every day without those around them ever knowing.

For Amanda, who lives with chronic pain following a workplace accident, even the most ordinary decisions can require careful planning. “Even those really every day simple decisions can require a lot of calculation. How much pain am I already in? Will this make it worse? What am I going to have to sacrifice later to recover from it?” she said.

Amanda is one of millions of Australians living with chronic pain – a complex chronic health condition that can affect almost every part of life, while often remaining invisible to those around them.

It could be your parent, your sister or brother, the colleague sitting beside you at work, or the person next to you on the bus tomorrow morning. They may be working, caring for their family, studying or simply getting on with their day. What you may not see is the impact pain is having on their sleep, relationships, work, wellbeing and independence.

Painaustralia CEO Monika Boogs said this often-hidden reality is at the heart of Painaustralia’s Wear Red for Pain campaign.

“Chronic pain can mean living with persistent, debilitating pain every day, while to the outside world there may be no visible sign of what you are experiencing. It can affect how someone sleeps, works, cares for their family, maintains relationships, socialises and manages everyday life,” Ms Boogs said.

“Someone can be sitting beside you at work, getting their children to school or travelling home on the bus while managing significant pain, and you may have absolutely no idea. That invisibility can also leave people living with chronic pain feeling misunderstood, judged or feeling that the impact of their pain is not fully recognised.”

For Tabitha, who has lived with chronic pain since she was 16, that impact can be seen in activities most people barely think about. Washing her hair has to be planned for a time when she has nothing else to do afterwards because of the pain it can cause. On days when she starts work at 7am, she gets up half an hour earlier to give her body time to adjust, and tying her shoes can take around 15 minutes.

“Something as simple as tying my shoes that everyone just kind of does on autopilot... can be really hard for me,” Tabitha said.

Veteran Mike describes another largely unseen impact – the mental and social toll of constantly managing pain.

“At the minimum, 50% of your brain capacity is going to managing the pain. And that’s at the minimum. Sometimes it was so much more,” Mike said. “It’s something that you can’t see... It is very hard to navigate social life when you’ve got chronic pain.”

My Pain is More Than a Number

This year’s Wear Red for Pain theme, My Pain is More Than a Number, has been informed by people living with chronic pain and their experiences of trying to communicate what pain means for their lives.

Amanda describes chronic pain as a whole experience – physical, emotional and social – and says reducing it to a single digit misses “the much bigger picture of what someone is actually having to live through”.

Ms Boogs said pain scores can have a role, but they cannot communicate the full impact of chronic pain.

“A number can’t tell you about the night’s sleep someone has lost, the family event they missed, the work they have had to give up or the constant planning behind getting through their day. That is what we mean when we say My Pain is More Than a Number. We want people to look beyond the pain score and listen to the person and how pain is actually impacting their daily life.”

As part of the Wear Red for Pain campaign, Australians, workplaces, health professionals, community pharmacies and organisations are encouraged to wear red on 1 September to help make chronic pain more visible and show their support for people living with chronic pain.

“Wearing red is a simple gesture, but when people and organisations across Australia take part, it sends an important message to people living with chronic pain that they are seen and supported,” Ms Boogs said.

“More importantly, we hope it starts conversations – at home, at work, in our communities and with health professionals – about what it really means to live with chronic pain.

“Chronic pain may be invisible, but its impact on people’s lives is very real. This September, we are asking Australians to help us make that impact more visible.’’

For more information, lived-experience stories, resources and how to take part, visit: https://www.painaustralia.org.au/wearredforpain