Copper Fit Knee Sleeve – Does The Copper Really Make A Difference?

Please note: Although I was given a sample of this product for reviewing purposes, all opinions are my own.

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Copper Fit is allegedly perfect for all kinds of people: performance athletes, physical workers, or older individuals looking for easier movement and pain relief. But the truth is, I know plenty of people who don't fit that any of those profiles yet still have pain and restricted movement. In fact, if you're as overweight as some of my relatives are, those two symptoms are a result of too much poundage and not enough exercise. In any case, Copper Fit's goal is to provide relief. It is “designed to help stabilize and support muscles, provide support for pain, stiffness, and soreness, as well as aid in recovery and performance by supporting improved circulation and oxygenation.” The miracle aspect of the product is the fact that the fabric is copper-infused. Copper “possess antimicrobial properties and enhancement benefits” and was used by the Ancient Egyptians, Romans and Aztecs.

But does it work?

Well, yes and no. I am no athlete, but I did wear the sleeve around one knee (for some reason you only get ONE knee sleeve in the box), during the day, for about a week. I do not have a bum knee per se, but since I just started an exercise program, my knees have been feeling sore and tired. Did I notice a difference? If I did, I think it was more because of the compression that was happening to my knee, rather than any copper-induced miracle. In fact, the knee felt the same as it had when I was wearing a generic knee sleeve that I'd bought at CVS.

So if the compression is the aspect that makes you feel better, is Copper Fit (which is priced on Amazon at $16.33 today, $19.99 plus $7.99 shipping and handling on the www.GetCopperFit.com website) worth paying more for when the CVS model was only $10.99? Again, yes and no. Logic says that if you’re really in a lot of pain and the cheaper unit doesn't work, it may behoove you to try the more expensive one. For me, however, the deciding factor is the return policy. While Amazon and CVS provide full refunds, ordering the unit via the Copper Fit company's website will only get you refunded the purchase price, not the $7.99 shipping and handling.

Pain relief is individual and important to one's quality of life. The question of whether or not to buy this product comes down to how much relief is worth to you.  Obviously, that's something only you can decide. Try Copper Fit. Physically, it can help. The only thing that it may hurt will be your wallet.

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Thanks for reading!

I'm Back! And Mom Is STILL Having Trouble Growing Up

After maintaining a different blog and woefully neglecting this one, I am back with new stories about my mothering journey.  They're coming up, but in the meantime, here's a post I wrote a few years back which is really appropriate with the recent start of another school year.  Get your tissues ready - mine are!

Mom's Having Trouble Growing Up

Today I saw an acquaintance in Shop-Rite.  Our eyes lock before filling with tears.  Our brains registered, simultaneously, with the same thought, the same realization, the same sadness.  We are mothers.  Our kids have just graduated 5th grade, leaving the younger part of childhood behind.  As the kids experience growing pains, we, as mothers, are too.

People tell us all the time to enjoy the kids while they’re young.  We do. We meticulously take so many pictures and videos of them, that they’ve become like celebrities around paparazzi.  They’re used to being filmed.   And as much as we want to absorb EVERY FIBER, EVERY MOMENT of their childhood, it’s impossible.  There are too many of those moments and our brains just can’t do it.  Besides, absorbing those moments won’t bring them back.  That’s life.

But I wasn’t prepared for the agony this part of motherhood brings.  The natural progression of my children away from me is immensely painful just as being with them, watching them, is exquisite.  The pain is always present, of course.  Most of the time I’m able to push it away along with other painful truths like the inevitability of death.  The pain of growth throbs again on every birthday, theirs or mine, as I realize we’re moving toward some excruciating farewells.

At my son’s 5th grade graduation yesterday, I could not stop the tears from flowing.  It was embarrassing.  Junior is growing into a wonderful person whom I cannot fathom myself without.  He is on the precipice of the difficult years of puberty.  He has his whole life ahead of him; much of it he will spend without me by his side.  Sure, I’ll be there as a reference, as a safety net, but I’m gradually losing him.  He is afraid.  I am afraid.   And I am sad.

Yet clutching my precious son to me is not an option.  He is a separate entity, as he should be, as he must be.  He cannot be held back.  Just as the sun comes up day after day, even as something life-changing happens, we both have to go on.  His growth is a beautiful, miraculous thing.

Mothers, for centuries, have faced the approaching empty nest.  In my town alone, 450 of us are getting ready to transition our preschoolers into elementary school; another 450 are prepping our elementary school kids to go to middle school.  The same number are getting ready to send their kids to high school, while even more are preparing theirs to head off to college.  Schools, of course, focus on the kids.

I wish someone would focus on us moms!  While the dads at my son’s graduation all seemed genuinely happy for their kids, the women all looked like pale, ghost-like.  We feel it more deeply, whether our children are biological or adopted.  We feel the changing of the growing seasons in every fiber of our beings.  We weep.  We mourn the gradual loss of our children.  It’s natural.  But that doesn’t make it any less painful.


Note:  This was written in June of 2011 and has appeared twice on Jersey Moms Blog.