Pain Support Group of WNY

07/14/2025

Pain Support meeting Saturday, July 20, 2025, at First Baptist Church of East Aurora, 591 Porterville Road, East Aurora, at 10:00 a.m. Open to anyone who suffers from fibromyalgia and/or other chronic pain conditions. Meetings facilitated by Rev. Dr. Barbara Hulsing and Bette Sue Allen, retired RN.

Providing support for those suffering from chronic pain. Please feel free to share tips for survival.

12/14/2024

BLUE CHRISTMAS WORSHIP

Friday, December 20, 2024, 6:30 p.m.

Blue Christmas (also called the Longest Night) in the Western Christian tradition is a day in the Advent season marking the longest night of the year. On this day, some churches in Western Christian denominations hold a church service that honors people that have lost loved ones and are experiencing grief. A Blue Christmas service can include reflective music, prayers, readings, Scripture relevant to suffering and to Advent (a time of waiting for hope to arrive), acknowledging God's presence for those who mourn and for those who struggle.


For additional information, call
Rev. Dr. Barbara Hulsing at 716-574-0164.

11/12/2024

Just a reminder that our Pain Support Group will meet this coming Saturday, November 16, from 10:00 - 11:30, at First Baptist Church of East Aurora, 591 Porterville Road, East Aurora

Don't hesitate to invite friends.

09/20/2024

CHRONIC PAIN/FIBROMYALGIA SUPPORT GROUP
Meeting this Saturday, October 19, 2024. 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. at First Baptist Church of East Aurora, 591 Porterville Road, East Aurora, NY 14052. Presentation by Ann Marie MacIsaac, Retired RN: A Healthy Body, Mind, and Spirit Contribute to Pain Control.

08/02/2024

Pain is often a signal of inflammation somewhere in your body. According to The Complete Guide to Anti-Inflammation, Special Issue of January 2024, "Chronic inflammation sets the stage for problems from head to toe. Your system can get nudged off the rails, and that can have profound consequences for physical and even emotional health. Inflammation can take root all over the body. Some common spots are the brain, gums, thyroid, lungs, heart, liver, skin, belly fat, joints, GI tract, reproductive tract, and bones." In my next post, I will offer some ideas to counter inflammation in your system.

06/17/2024

Autoimmune pain affects the whole body. To make things complicated, it affects everyone's body a little differently. To make things even more complex, those effects can change daily. Sometimes you're plagued with widespread muscle pain and fatigue, and other days it's a headache and heightened sensitivity to touch. One local woman researched and discovered that acupuncture could improve the quality of life in patients with chronic autoimmune pain. Acupuncture is a form of Chinese medicine commonly used to reduce various forms of pain. It reduces inflammation, stimulates endorphins release, and offers much needed, effective symptom relief for autoimmune conditions. (Adapted from an article in Buffalo Healthy Living magazine.) Of course, acupuncture is not for everyone, but it is an alternative that you may like to consider.

06/07/2024

WHY NO PAJAMAS? Even if you wake up with terrible pain and know you're not going to leave the house, change out of pajamas. Why? Because certain behaviors, like staying in pajamas, can keep your brain stuck in "sick mode." Pain wants to consume your whole life--your job, your identity, your hobbies. The urge to stay in pajamas is your pain trying to take your power. Changing your clothes, insignificant as it may seem, is a mini-revolution: one small way of taking back power. It signals to your brain that you're making a shift from disability to strength, from dysfunction to function. To be clear, this does not mean that on a tough day or a lazy Sunday you shouldn't lounge around in your jammies. However, changing out of pajamas--even if you hurt--is a powerful way of informing your brain that, even on days with pain, you're resilient enough to face the day. (From Rachel Zoffness, MS, PhD, "The Pain Management Workbook")

05/15/2024

CHRONIC PAIN/FIBROMYALGIA SUPPORT GROUP
Meeting the third Saturday of each month, will be meeting this Saturday, May 18,2024, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. at First Baptist Church of East Aurora, 591 Porterville Road, East Aurora, NY 14052. Also available via Zoom. Contact Rev. Barbara Hulsing at barb.hulsing@gmail.com or (716) 574-0164 for details.

03/17/2024

According to Rachel Zoffness, MS, PhD, in her book, The Pain Management Workbook, there are three prongs of pain - Bio-Psycho-Social. She says, "The causes of pain--and therefore the most effective methods for treating it--are biopsychosocial. This means that there are three interconnected, equally important domains to target if we want to effectively treat chronic pain and other health issues: biology ('bio'), psychology ('psych'), and social factors. These three domains overlap to both produce and reduce pain and symptoms. Because your brain is connected to your body 100% of the time, your social health, emotional health, and physical health are intricately, inextricably intertwined." More on this topic in the next post.

Call now to connect with business.

03/08/2024

CHRONIC PAIN/FIBROMYALGIA SUPPORT GROUP
Meeting the third Saturday of each month, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. at First Baptist Church of East Aurora, 591 Porterville Road, East Aurora, NY 14052. Also available via Zoom. Contact Rev. Barbara Hulsing at barb.hulsing@gmail.com or (716) 574-0164 for details.

Call now to connect with business.

02/25/2024

HELPING HANDS FOR HAITI. All welcomed. Lunch provided.
Saturday, March 9, 2024
9 am-2 pm. There will be tasks for both sewers and non-sewers.
First Baptist Church of East Aurora, 591 Porterville Road, East Aurora.

02/25/2024

While not every fibromyalgia sufferer will experience tension headaches, approximately 59% regularly endure them. If you are one who does, you will recognize the symptoms of tinnitus, nausea, vomiting, photo-sensitivity, tightness, static buzzing sensations across the forehead, and neck pain. Causes may include stress, anxiety, fatigue, noise, sinus infections, food sensitivities, bowel issues, strong aromatic scent, ni****ne, LED screens, high contrast patterns, flickering light, and piercing white spectrum light.

Keeping food and daily activity diaries to monitor your triggers, may enable you to reduce the occurrence of these triggers. Of course, for light sensitivity, use natural light when possible. If not, it is best to use LED warm white (yellow) bulbs that are kinder to your eyes. In other words, avoid LED cool white that give a bluish hue and CFL (compact fluorescent light) energy-saving bulbs, which produce the same flickering as fluorescent tubes.

(Adapted from The Fibromyalgia Magazine, December 2018.)