Studies have shown that some people with arthritis seem to have difficulty metabolizing copper from the food they eat, leading to increased pain. That observation led Helmar Dollwet, Ph.D., of the University of Akron to theorize that arthritis sufferers may need to get their copper from another source. "The dissolved copper from [a copper] bracelet bypasses the oral route by entering the body through the the skin," he wrote in his book, The Copper Bracelet and Arthritis. Dr. Dollwet thought this might be the only way arthritics ever receive the copper their bodies need-copper that studies have shown can indeed relieve pain.

Physicians remain somewhat skeptical about bracelets but don't entirely dismiss them, either. "I see people wearing copper bracelets, and they're wearing them because it helps them," says Elson Haas, M.D. "I think copper may have a role. It's possible that a copper deficiency does increase joint inflammation, and it doesn't seem that supplementing copper in the diet has the same effect as wearing it."

Does that make Dr. Haas a believer? "I don't necessarily supply copper bracelets to people, but I don't discourage them from wearing one either."

Doctor Ed Harris of Texas A & M University has shown that low tissue stores of copper cause pain and joint stiffness similar to that of arthritis.

In the 1970s, there was a fad of wearing copper bracelets to stop arthritic pain. Although many people experienced reduced pain, they were shamed out of wearing them because this was so unscientific and only folklore. The pain disappearance was explained as being due to the “come and go” nature of the disease.

In one study of patients wearing copper bracelets, it was found that people absorbed an average of 13 milligrams of copper during a month. This could bring many people into the recommended daily intake range for copper (1.5 to 3.0 milligrams). Copper absorbed through the skin gets into the circulation very efficiently – more so than dietary copper. Incidentally, the people absorbing the copper noticed significant improvement in their arthritic conditions as well as a reduction of pain.

Dr. Ray Walker of the University of Newcastle in New South Wales found that thirty-one of forty arthritis patients felt better wearing copper bracelets. Seventeen patients said there was less pain while they wore the bracelets, andfourteen others said they were unwilling to carry on for two months without the bracelets.

Dr. Walker was a skeptic and wanted to disprove the suggested link. He had authentic-looking “imitation copper” bracelets made out of aluminum. One group wore copper bracelets and the other group wore lookalike bracelets. Although patients in both groups improved, many more in the copper bracelet group improved.

Another skeptic, a columnist for a scientific journal, investigated the issue after a scientist reader reported beneficial effects of a copper bracelet on his wife. She had been wearing it but discontinued because it tarnished and turned her skin green. The scientist thought the fatty acids in the skin might be dissolving the oxide on the surface of the bracelet, producing fat-soluble copper “soaps” that could be absorbed through the skin.

The columnist tried the bracelet himself and his arthritic pains were alleviated. The skin under his bracelet became green. He licked the stain and noted the metallic taste of copper salts. Water alone would not remove the stain. Hehad to use soap to get it off. He decided the copper was indeed migrating into his body through his skin.