POTSDAM -- Canton-Potsdam Hospital’s fibromyalgia support group will meet April 28 at 6:30 p.m. at 59 Main St.

This month’s topic is “Un-weaving the Web of Pain: Using Diet and a Holistic Approach to Manage Pain.”

Guest speaker Paula M. Youmell, RN, MS, Certified Health Counselor, Wise Woman Holistic Health Educator and Healer in Northern NYS will lead an open discussion where individuals are encouraged to share their experiences with trigger points and learn more about them.

Friends, family, and anyone experiencing chronic pain is welcome to attend; they do not need to have fibromyalgia.

“The foods we feed our body set us up for healing through regeneration of healthy body cells. On the other hand, they could also set us up for illness through degeneration to less healthy body cells,” said Youmell. “There is a strong relationship between whole foods and whole herbs to health, healing, and relieving pain. With some education and guidance, individuals can easily adjust their meal choices and ingredients to live a healthier and more comfortable lifestyle.”

Leslie Russek, PT, DPT, PhD, OCS, Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at Clarkson University noted Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic condition that causes diffuse pain in muscles and connective (fibrous) tissues of the body as a result of a hypersensitive nervous system. People with FMS not only ache all over, but they tend to have sleep disturbance, chronic fatigue, ‘pins and needle’ sensations, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, and depression.

The pain and symptoms tend to vary not only from day to day, but also from hour to hour. People with FMS have very low tolerance to activity and exercise-the slightest activity can cause a flare-up.

There is ample parking in the patient parking lot and the facility is handicap accessible. Info: about managing FMS or to see past support group newsletters, visit http://people.clarkson.edu/~lrussek/FMSG.html, or contact Canton-Potsdam Hospital’s Physical Therapy Department at 261-5460 or lnrussek@clarkson.edu.