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Magnetic Therapy for Arthritis

The MACROPOD Trial

Magnetic and copper bracelets for osteoarthritis: a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial. 

In this study, 45 patients all wore in a random sequence: a strong magnetic wrist strap, a demagnetised wrist strap, a weak magnetic wrist strap and a copper bracelet for a period of 4 weeks per device with no wash out period, i.e. patients went from wearing one device straight to wearing another. The results found that there was no significant difference between devices in the treatment of pain, stiffness, physical function and medication use. The conclusion was that both magnetic and copper bracelets are ineffective treatment options for osteoarthritis.