Launched in September by the National Fibromyalgia Association, the Clothespin Challenge involves placing the wooden clamps on the tips of your fingers.

"How long can you keep them clipped on your fingers? How long can you take the pain?" asked Webb, a certified massage therapist who operates Ahhh a Massage in McMurray.

Chances are, she said, not long.

On May 17, Webb will host a free program on fibromyalgia in her home-based business at 310 E. McMurray Road. Another session will be held May 31. Both sessions will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m.

One of the speakers will be Lisa Cousley of Castle Shannon, the person responsible for turning Webb into an advocate for those suffering from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain disorder that involves widespread musculoskeletal aches, pains and stiffness, soft tissue tenderness, fatigue and sleep disturbances.

When Cousley met Webb in 2002 - two years after Cousley was diagnosed with fibromyalgia - at the chiropractor's office where Webb worked, she was walking with a cane, she couldn't brush her hair and she couldn't bend over to shave her legs.

"I think if I hadn't met Margie, I probably wouldn't be walking," the 46-year-old Cousley said.

The biggest reward Webb received through the massage sessions was the day Cousley was able to raise her right arm, pull it over head and touch her left ear.

"She had the biggest grin," Webb said. "She told me she owes me for giving her life back."

Webb cautions, however, that miracles don't happen overnight. Sometimes, she said, she was able to touch Cousley for only 20 seconds because of the severity of the pain, which Cousley likened to the flu.

"You know how you get when you have the flu, how your body feels?" Cousley said. "It's like that, only magnified, every day. Some days it's worse. There's always some pain. You just learn to live with it."

The way massage works for fibromyalgia patients is simple.

Webb relies on touch to stimulate receptors in the skin, which, in turn, hastens messages sent to the brain to reduce pain. In addition, by exercising the patients' muscles for them, Webb increases their body's serotonin levels and releases more endorphins. Serotonin is a chemical that promotes communication between nerve cells and regulates many functions, including mood, appetite and sensory perception - all of which are affected by fibromyalgia; endorphins are natural substances that the brain releases to relieve pain.

"Massage gets muscles to release toxins into the bloodstream. I'm exercising muscles differently than you do," Webb said.

And Cousley can notice a difference immediately.

"There is a tremendous difference how I feel the next week," said. "I don't feel like super woman, but I don't feel like a rolled-up piece of aluminum foil, either."

In addition to the benefits of massage therapy, the series will focus on body mapping of the 18 trigger points of fibromyalgia, exercise, supplements and chiropractic adjustment.

"There's a lot people can learn. They don't have to limit themselves," Cousley said. "Basically, they don't have to be victims of it. ... I used to garden from dawn until dusk. Obviously I can't do that anymore, but I can do a little at a time."

To register for the fibromyalgia series, call 412-877-8569. Although the series is free, donations will be accepted to benefit the Fibromyalgia Network and the National Fibromyalgia Association. For more information about fibromyalgia, visit www.fmnetnews.com or www.FMaware.org.