Do you suffer from arthritis pain? You may have seen advertisements for cooper bracelets, cooper-infused gloves, and wraps. Do they actually help take away the pain?
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Some articles say that Copper has been shown to be an effective treatment for arthritis pain and other joint pain conditions. A lot of people swear by the use of Copper as a source of pain relief.
These are some comments found in reviews of a pair of copper-infused gloves on Amazon.
“These gloves are a life-changer for me. I’m a 58-year-old artist, and my osteoarthritis had become almost debilitating. I was in excruciating pain 24/7. On a whim, and desperate, I saw these gloves on a tv commercial and took a shot and ordered them from Amazon. When I put them on I felt almost immediate relief. As soon as I take them off, the pain returns, so I know the gloves are working. I wear them most of the day and all night and wake up with much less pain. They are extremely comfortable, I’m able to grasp objects I could not before and they hold up well when I wash and dry them. One of the best features is that the gloves extend just below the knuckles of your hand, making it much easier for normal activities. Other gloves extend far over the knuckles making some normal activitiesI more difficult. can’t say enough good things about this product. My mood is even better because my pain level is down so much. If you have hand pain, I highly recommend these gloves. I would give them a 20 star rating.”
“These gloves are great. The problem I was having solved. They came in good time. If you have arthritis, I recommend these.”
“I ordered them because I had heard that copper compression really worked. I did not expect to feel the results I did as FAST as I did. I have a re-occurrence of carpal tunnel that was fixed about 12 years ago. I put these gloves and immediately the tingling in my right hand was gone. I didn’t really expect them to work, and surely not that fast. They worked so well that I just ordered the Copper Compression shoulder brace. These gloves are fantastic!”
“These gloves are Amazing!
I have not been asked to write this review, I paid full price, and I have no affiliation with this company.
I am SHOCKED how quickly these copper compression gloves helped relieve the pain and inflammation in my hands and wrists.
Besides having arthritis in both of my hands and wrists, I also have a cyst in my wrist. I recently had the worst flare up to date. I was in terrible pain. I went on amazon to find a carpal tunnel brace, I came across these gloves and decided to give them a try.
I wore them for about 12 hours a day. Thought the compression felt great I can’t really say I felt a huge difference for the first few days, but on the about the forth day on my drive home from work I realized I hadn’t thought about my pain once that day! Which is incredible because for the entire prior week I’d been using autopilot and the palms of my hands to do most of my driving because gripping anything was nearly impossible.
I recommend these 100%, you have nothing to lose except pain and inflammation!”
The gloves, Item: B00ZO4WW7Q on Amazon, have over 50,000 reviews and they have a 4-star rating. These particular gloves have a celebrity endorsement from Drew Breeze.
If you don’t know him, Drew Brees, a former NFL quarterback who played for 20 seasons, is an American player. Brees is second in NFL history in career passing yards, touchdowns thrown, pass attempts, and pass completions. He spent the majority of his career with the New Orleans Saints. He also broke Johnny Unitas’ record of 52 years by completing the most straight games with a touchdown throw.
Celebrity endorsement certainly helps sell these gloves. But do they work to relieve pain? If you read the few reviews above, you might be rushing out to buy a pair. Before you do, let’s dive deeper.
What is Copper?
Copper is a mineral that is abundant in the Earth’s crust. It is also found in copper ore deposits, mainly in Australia, Chile, China, and Peru.
Cu (from Latin: cuprum) is the chemical symbol for Copper, which has an atomic number of 29. It’s a ductile, malleable, and malleable metal with exceptional thermal and electric conductivity. A pinkish-orange color is seen on a freshly exposed surface of pure Copper. Copper is employed as a heat and electricity conductor, a building material, and an ingredient in many metal alloys, such as sterling silver used in jewelry, cupronickel utilized to make marine hardware, and constantan utilized in strain gauges and thermocouples for temperature monitoring.
Copper is one of the few metals found in nature in its purest form. As a result, from around 8000 BC, humans in many places started to use it. It was the first metal to be smelted from sulfide ores, cast into a mold, and purposefully alloyed with tin to make bronze some 5000 years later; it was also the first metal to be fashioned into a form.
Copper was initially named after aes cyprium (metal of Cyprus), which was subsequently altered to cuprum (Latin) during the Roman era. This, the later spelling of which was first used about 1530, gave rise to the words cooper (Old English) and Copper.
Copper oxidizes to produce green verdigris (or patina) when used in buildings, often for roofing. Copper is occasionally used in decorative art in its elemental form and as pigments. Bacteriostatic agents, fungicides, and wood preservatives are all copper compounds.
We Consume Copper
Because it is a crucial component of the respiratory enzyme complex cytochrome c oxidase, Copper is vital to all living organisms as a trace dietary mineral. Copper is replaced by iron-complexed hemoglobin in fish and other vertebrates in mollusks and crustaceans, where it is a component of the blood pigment hemocyanin.
Humans get most of their Copper from the liver, muscles, and bones. Copper is found in the adult human body at a rate of 1.4 to 2.1 mg per kg of weight.
How much Copper is in your body?
Copper levels vary from person to person and even from day to day; therefore there is no clear answer to this question. According to research published in the “Journal of Research in Medical Sciences,” people with arthritis pain have lower copper levels than those without arthritis. The theory is that Copper may treat or prevent arthritis-related joint pain.
With the average amount of trace copper in the adult human body at a rate of 1.4 to 2.1 mg per kg of weight, we can estimate the amount of Copper each person may have in their body.
The easiest way to visualize the amount of Copper is by comparing it to a penny. From 1983 and later US pennies weigh 2.5 grams and are 2.5% copper, so they have 0.0625 gm of Copper. The rest is zinc. 1981 and earlier cents weighed 3.11 gm and were 95% copper so they have 2.95 gm of Copper.
We developed this chart using the high average of 2.1 mg per kg of weight. First, converting a person’s imperial weight in pounds to their weight in kilos, then taking 2.1 times their kilogram weight to estimate the maximum amount of Copper they might have. The amount of Copper is in kg or kilograms.
We see that the heaviest person in the chart, at 255 lbs, has 242.90 mg of Copper. It takes 1,000 mg of Copper to make 1 gram, so that’s about 1/4 (one-quarter) of a gram of Copper. An old 95% copper penny is 2.95 grams of Copper. So you can see that the amount of Copper doesn’t even come close to the amount in an old penny. However, with a modern penny at 0.0625 gm or 62.5 mg, the average person has 2 to 3 post-1982 pennies worth of Copper in their body.
Could the lack of proper copper levels in our body be why some experience relief when using copper gloves or bracelets to relieve pain? That is a speculative theory that would need to be studied.
Science has no definitive answer.
Despite all the positive reviews that our example copper laced gloves got, they also got some bad reviews. Here are a few:
“Bought these for my mom to try as she has arthritis and carpal tunnel. These gloves did nothing for her.”
“An absolute waste of money. What was I thinking? More money for Brett Favre to embezzle from profits of a product that do not do what they claim they do. Sick of trying them, worthless.”
Note: Drew Brees endorsed the gloves we used as an example. Perhaps Brett Favre also endorsed these or a different brand, but we could not verify that. The author of the comment may have mixed up sports stars.
“a fraud, does not help you feel better nor does it eliminate pain or give you comfort my worst investment”
“I have arthritis and these did not help at all like it says.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Copper for pain relief?
Copper is a popular choice for pain relief as it has been used since ancient times. Copper is a natural remedy for arthritis because of its anti-inflammatory properties, but that is not scientifically proven. It also has antimicrobial and antiseptic properties, making it a good choice for pain relief in the health care setting.
Is there more than one type of Copper? Not really. There are blends, and there are different applications, but Copper is Copper.
Conclusion
There is considerable evidence to suggest that Copper can relieve arthritic pain, but there is also evidence that it’s ineffective. This natural mineral is abundant in the body and has been shown to help reduce inflammation and joint pain. If you are suffering from pain relief issues, it’s worth considering copper supplements as a possible treatment. Copper gloves, wraps, bracelets, and other devices have mixed reviews and are not proven to help. If you think they help and you feel less pain, then, by all means, use them.