For those who suffer from arthritis pain completing even the simplest daily tasks can be extremely painful and in some severe cases almost impossible. Many of these people will go to any lengths to try and relive their symptoms, and two of the more popular alternative therapies, the wearing of copper bracelets and the use of so called “magnet therapy”, have been growing in popularity for years.

But according the results of research conducted by a team of scientists from the University of York such measures are ineffective for the relief of arthritis pain. There results contradict past findings, and their study was the first placebo controlled research to investigate both copper and magnetic bracelets.

The trial had 45 participants, all over the age of 50 and all of whom had been diagnosed with osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. The researchers, led by Stewart Richmond, a Research Fellow in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York, asked each participant to wear four different devices in random rotation over a 16 week period. The devices used in the study were a copper bracelet, two different magnetic bracelets with different “strengths” of magnetism and a demagnetized wrist strap.

After the trial period was over the researchers found that there was no real or meaningful difference between the different devices ability to relive stiffness and pain or increase physical functioning.

According to Richmond, the results of his study seem to indicate that any benefit that arthritis patients believe they derive from the use of copper and magnetic bracelets is purely attributable to psychological placebo effects. People who buy such devices are usually in terrible pain he says, and if they then experience some relief from the pain at certain times they attribute it to the bracelets. “However” he concludes “our findings suggest that such devices have no real advantage over placebo wrist straps that are not magnetic and do not contain copper.”

Richmond admits that arthritis patients will come to no harm wearing bracelets and wrist straps like the ones used during the course of his study, but simply believes such people should not spend money on something that he simply believes does not work.

Magnet therapy is a multimillion dollar industry worldwide, not only encompassing the sale of magnetic and copper jewelry, which can include earrings, rings and necklaces in addition to the bracelets and wrist straps, but also includes treatments performed by alternative medicine practitioners. During such sessions magnets are placed on “strategic’ locations on the body and proponents of the practice claim it can not only relieve arthritis pain but other medical conditions as well.