Hockey Post: Snorting Nitrates

Does anyone else think this is a bad idea?

During the Flyers' game four in Philly against the Pens, I noticed Evgeni Malkin passing smelling salts around to his teammates; I'd seen it before, but never thought too much about it. It's been a common thing in NHL hockey for many years.

I was interested in the reasons for this and began cursory research. Bob McMananman of the Arizona Republic noted in his February 2008 article on the subject that even The Great One was subject to the habit. He freely admitted that he used it for mucus and sniffles. "But Gretzky doesn't use smelling salts just for head colds. When asked how often he snorts that stuff, he said, 'Normally every game.'" [AZCentral]

But why? The nitrates in smelling salts trigger your trigeminal nerve, giving you a feeling of warmth and energy, which is way it is used to revitalize the unconscious. [Redbook]

Big deal? Hard to say. The possible side effects of long term use are skin lesions, irritation, recurring headaches and migraines. No big deal right? Except there's more.

Continuous use of smelling salts are methemoglobinemia, when the nitrates enter red blood cells and oxedize hemogloblin, which causes similar results to drinking cyonide. Scary huh? "Nitrite abuse also may aggravate preexistent cardiovascular disease, particularly in patients with arrhythmias or hypotensive disease. Severe headaches are a common consequence of nitrite abuse and may be misdiagnosed in this patient population." [Medscape]

I'd never even thought of the consequences, and although the teams do not force their players to sniff nitrates, I do wonder if they are properly aware of the possible side-effects. Knowing hockey players, if they think it gives them any kind of boost or advantage, they'd willingly accept it.

~*~

Last Hockey Post: April 13th, 2009

~*~