I just found out that May is National Arthritis Awareness Month.

My immediate reaction to that is (in a Kramer-from-Seinfeld voice) “Oh, I’m aware of it”.

I’m aware of arthritis as I wake up in the morning and take inventory of what’s hurting today

…as I head out to the garden with a list of chores impossible to accomplish given the circumstances of today’s pain

…as I plan and start to prepare food, days ahead of a family gathering because I know I can’t accomplish it all on the day of and remain standing

…as I sit writing

…as I do my chores

…as I head to work

…as I drive

…each time I stand or sit

…having coffee and conversation with friends

…when the weather’s bad

…when the weather’s good

…when I’m playing with my grandkids

…when someone invites me to an event

…when I see you struggling to get through the grocery store limping and hoping no one notices

…when I see young people lifting things that are too heavy

Yes, I’m painfully aware of arthritis every month, week, day, hour, and minute.

So why is an arthritis awareness event necessary? When a diagnosis of cancer is given it’s generally known the whole family will be affected. Your lives are changed because of it. But when a diagnosis of osteoarthritis is given, it’s downplayed.

It’s just old age.

You’ve been hard on your body.

You can just stop (fill in the blank with your activity). Just don’t do that anymore.

Our lives are changed drastically by arthritis and it takes a tremendous toll on us both physically and emotionally. Our families and friends’ lives are also changed by our arthritis. The CDC reports that 23% of American adults have arthritis. But it tends to be minimized.

Of course you have arthritis. Everyone gets it eventually.

And when you alter your lifestyle so much that you have nothing left that brings you joy,  in comes depression and the hopelessness. You start a spiral of trying to escape rather than proactively managing your disease.

Awareness of arthritis – as a serious disease affecting nearly 25% of all adults – is an important step towards management for a better life.

Awareness is important for younger people to avoid developing osteoarthritis in the first place. Prevention taught at an early age can be highly effective. Kids today know that cigarette smoking directly leads to heart and lung disease. Let’s teach them strategies for keeping their joints healthy for a lifetime as well.

Awareness helps raise money for the ultimate goal of a cure. I don’t want to live to 100 if it means living with chronic pain and never doing the things I love. Maybe the cure is joint replacement? Injections that repair the damaged joint? Medication that makes the body heal itself? Who knows?

I can no longer imagine life without pain. A cure would be an amazing miracle that could rejuvenate millions of lives.

But a cure won’t be found until we have more awareness of the prevalence and devastation this disease has wrought upon our society.

Learn more about osteoarthritis and how you can prevent it and how you can manage it here.