POTSDAM -- Canton-Potsdam Hospital’s Fibromyalgia Support Group will meet Monday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m., at 59 Main Street in room 225, Clarkson Hall.

This month’s topic will be “Tapping into Your Inner Calm: Techniques to Change Your Negative Emotions and Pain.”

Participants will learn about the technique of tapping to release negative emotions and stress and will be guided through a basic session using tapping to relax.

Chronic pain affects more than 100 million Americans.

According to the Institute of Medicine, the cost in medical expenses and lost productivity is greater than for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined. One of the great challenges in managing chronic pain is that brain processing of pain is very complex.

Acute pain often has a simple relationship between injury or disease and pain; acute pain is therefore often well managed using what is called a ‘biomedical’ model of pain where a biological problem is addressed by medicine, body tissues heal and the pain goes away.

For example, a broken bone can be set and within 6-8 weeks it typically heals and the pain goes away. Fibromyalgia, however, is not easily managed using the biomedical model; the support group strives to teach participants self-care strategies.

The support group is held under the direction of Dr. Leslie Russek, PT, DPT, PhD, OCS, associate professor in Clarkson University’s Physical Therapy Department and physical therapist specializing in chronic pain management at Canton-Potsdam Hospital.