From mainstreet-nashville.com
By Dr. Mark Kestner
People often ask me about how they can help themselves when their arthritis pain flares up. Many readers have likely heard that wearing copper braces or some type of product using magnets can relieve pain.
Do copper or magnetic products help? The answer depends on whom you ask.
Dr. Kestner
When I ask patients about the products they use, they often tell me that they can tell a difference when they wear a copper brace or use a device embedded with magnets. Recently a patient told me that when her hand pain increases due to weather changes or other reasons, if she wears her gloves made with copper she feels better. “I’ve tried other gloves without the copper and they don’t work as well.”
I have had other patients tell me they wear a copper bracelet on their wrist to reduce arthritis pain, even back pain. “I don’t know about the science, but I know I feel better and have less pain when I wear it,” they have told me.
What about the science? Does science address this question?
Well, it turns out there has been at least one random controlled study that attempted to determine the effectiveness of both copper and magnets for pain, swelling and inflammation related to arthritis. This one study is often cited as definitively debunking the claim that these devices can be helpful.
The study, carried out in Yorkshire, England, and published in 2009, determined that neither the copper nor magnetic strap had any more benefit than a placebo. This single study has been widely used to discredit claims by patients that their use of braces, bracelets, gloves, wraps or other garments incorporating either copper or magnets helps their joint pain.
As I have talked to patients over the years, many have been quite certain that products made with either copper or magnets have helped them.
Whom should I believe?
While it is true that there is such a thing as a placebo effect that can convince a patient that a pill, treatment or product is effective even though it isn’t, there may be more to the perceived benefit experienced by patients than that.
For example, the study, although carried out with good intentions and apparently free of errors, was quite limited. It consisted of a group of only 65 subjects, which is rather small. It also considered only a single device made of copper and a single device made of magnets. It would be impossible to rule out the effectiveness of all possible types of copper or magnetic products with a single study focused only on a single device type, even if thousands of subjects were used.
Whenever most studies are written up, the closing line is usually “More research is needed.” In other words, regarding anything related to health, one study is just a single study and is not considered conclusive.
Interestingly, numerous studies have shown acupuncture to be significantly helpful for osteoarthritis and other sources of joint pain. In most of the studies finding positive benefits of acupuncture for arthritis, the final comment does indicate more research is needed, as is appropriate.
In our office, for example, we have seen truly amazing results for some patients with arthritis pain using acupuncture, significant improvement for some, and occasionally a patient will have only a slight amount of benefit. In other words, acupuncture does work to help arthritis, but results vary from one patient to another.
Some articles trying to debunk the value of copper gloves and other medical devices include phrases such as “save your money to spend on things that are proven.” Considering that many of the products cost only around $20, the cost doesn’t seem to be too much to risk.
After talking to many patients over the years who have had positive experiences using gloves, braces, wraps and other products created with the inclusion of copper and magnets, my expectation would be that they benefit some but maybe not everyone.
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