This November, landmarks around the world are lighting up orange, communities are coming together, and people living with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) are making their voices heard.
Every November, something special happens. Buildings, bridges, towers, and even waterfalls turn orange to raise awareness of a condition that is often invisible to the people around us.
From Canada to Australia, from the United States to Europe, orange lights appear across the night sky. Some illuminate famous landmarks, others familiar local buildings. All carry the same message:
CRPS deserves to be seen, understood, and taken seriously.
And the lights are only part of the story.
Throughout November, patient organizations and communities organize awareness walks, educational events, and online gatherings.
Whether you’re living with CRPS, supporting someone who is, or simply curious to understand more, there are ways to take part.
Color The World Orange — November 2
The international Color The World Orange campaign began in 2014. Now in its 13th year, it has grown into a worldwide awareness initiative.
This year’s Color The World Orange Day takes place on Monday, November 2, 2026.
Landmarks featured in the campaign’s international listings include:
- Canada: CN Tower in Toronto, Niagara Falls, Calgary Tower, and Canada Place in Vancouver.
- Australia: Perth’s Matagarup Bridge and Elizabeth Quay.
- New Zealand: Eden Park in Auckland, Wellington’s Cable Car Tunnels, and Christchurch Airport.
- United Kingdom and Ireland: Tower 42 in London, Newcastle’s Tyne Bridge, and Dublin City Hall.
- United States: One World Trade Center in New York and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
- Spain: Landmarks in Granada, Bilbao, and Móstoles.
Some illuminations take place on November 1 or 3 rather than November 2.
Explore the participating locations and their dates on the official Color The World Orange website.
And if you happen to see a familiar landmark glowing orange, now you’ll know why.
CRPS Awareness Events Around the World
Beyond the orange lights, November brings opportunities to connect with others, exchange experiences, and learn something new.
United States — Walks, Awareness and Education
- November 1 — Athens, Georgia: AccessPoint 5K for CRPS, an inclusive Run/Walk/Roll event benefiting RSDSA.
- November 2 — Nationwide: Color The World Orange, with landmarks illuminated across the country.
- November 5–7 — Tampa, Florida: ASRA Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, a professional conference covering advances in pain medicine, including CRPS-related education.
- November 14 — Lubbock, Texas: CRPS Awareness Walk, organized by a local CRPS/RSD awareness support group.
- Throughout November: NERVEmber, encouraging awareness of nerve pain conditions, including CRPS.
United Kingdom — Online Support and Creative Activities
Burning Nights CRPS Support is hosting free online support groups on November 3 and 17, and Zentangle sessions on November 4 and 11.
Germany — Education and Community
CRPS Selbsthilfe is participating in Color The World Orange on November 2.
The 7th National CRPS Symposium takes place in Mainz on November 4, with a community meeting listed in Cologne on November 27.
Event details and registration requirements can change. Please check the organizers’ websites before participating.
Staying Connected When Your World Gets Smaller
If you’re living with CRPS, you know that leaving the house isn’t always as simple as opening the door and stepping outside.
The temperature, a gust of wind, the vibration of a car, or the pressure of walking can increase your pain before you’ve even reached your destination.
Over time, everyday activities like shopping, working, visiting friends, or simply sitting in a café can become increasingly difficult. Even getting to a medical appointment can be an ordeal.
Your world can gradually become smaller, along with your opportunities to participate in everyday life.
Living with a condition that few people understand can add another layer of isolation, even when you’re surrounded by people who care about you.
That’s why CRPS awareness events are about more than educating the public. They offer opportunities to connect with people who understand what you’re experiencing, exchange practical ideas, and share experiences without having to explain or justify every limitation.
And if attending in person isn’t possible, online gatherings can bring that connection into your home.
The orange lights make CRPS visible to the world. The events bring people together, including those whose worlds have become smaller because of it.
CRPS Awareness From Home: Talks and Videos
If attending an event isn’t possible, you can still participate from home.
Organizations such as RSDSA in the United States and Burning Nights CRPS Support in the UK offer recorded presentations, patient discussions, and educational videos you can watch at your own pace.
You can hear experiences that sound familiar, discover useful information, or share a video with someone who wants to understand what you’re living with.
What Are We Actually Raising Awareness Of?
Orange lights attract attention and start conversations, but awareness needs to go beyond recognizing a name.
CRPS is a complex chronic pain condition that can develop following an injury, surgery, or other triggering event. It can affect sensation, movement, circulation, skin temperature, and other bodily processes.
Ordinary sensations like a light touch, a breeze, the pressure of clothing, or water during a shower can become extraordinarily painful. This is called allodynia, and it’s just one of the symptoms that can make everyday life challenging.
Read more about allodynia and CRPS.
CRPS can also involve swelling, temperature and color changes, stiffness, altered movement, and pain disproportionate to the original injury. Not everyone experiences the same symptoms, and the impact isn’t always visible.
Someone who smiles, laughs, and enjoys life can still be living with significant pain.
For family and friends, understanding can mean respecting physical boundaries, offering practical support, and accepting that plans sometimes need to change. For healthcare professionals, it means listening carefully and recognizing how CRPS affects everyday function as well as pain intensity.
Explaining these experiences isn’t always easy. We’ll explore practical ways to communicate your needs in an upcoming Resources article, How to Explain CRPS to Others.
Amplifying Orange
You don’t need to attend an event to help spread awareness of CRPS.
Share an article, post a photograph of an orange landmark, tell a friend why November matters, or share something you wish more people understood about living with CRPS.
Every conversation helps bring attention to a condition that has remained poorly understood for far too long.
Let’s make some noise about CRPS this November!
Share the Orange
If you know someone who is living with CRPS, let them know that the world is becoming more aware of the condition.
Send them a photograph of an orange landmark, share an upcoming event, or simply tell them you thought of them.
If you’re living with CRPS yourself, those orange lights are for you, too. Across the world, people are working to make your condition more visible and better understood.
You may not be able to join them in person, but you’re part of something much bigger.
Keep the Conversation Going
CRPS Awareness Month lasts throughout November, but understanding shouldn’t end when the orange lights go out.
At CRPSJourney, we believe that living with CRPS is about more than pain. It’s about finding ways to participate in life, adapting when necessary, and doing more of what matters to you.
If you’re new here, begin with What Is CRPS? or explore our articles about living beyond the pain scale.
Because you are more than CRPS.
Are you organizing a CRPS awareness event this November? We’d love to hear about it. Send us the details through our Contact page so we can help others discover ways to participate.