If you’ve watched football or hockey, you’ve probably seen players using smelling salts while waiting on the sidelines.
So you may be asking yourself: Are smelling salts legal in boxing today?
Can you use them before a fight or in between rounds to improve athletic performance and increase alertness?
In this article we’ll be discussing the four main reasons why smelling salts are banned in boxing.
Why Are Smelling Salts Banned In Boxing?
Smelling salts are banned in boxing because:
- Smelling Salts Can Give One Fighter An Unfair Advantage
- Smelling Salts Can Mask Underlying Head Damage
- Smelling Salts Can Damage The Lungs and Nasal Membrane
- Smelling Salts Can Cause Neck Damage
The smelling salt (also known as ammonia inhalants or ammonia salts) has been around since Roman times, primarily used by alchemists in their experiments.
Centuries later in Victorian times, these aromatic spirits were commonly used to revive women who fainted from wearing tight corsets.
Today, athletes in high-impact sports, such as football and hockey, use smelling salts to:
- Regain consciousness
- Improve cardiovascular activity
- Increase reaction time
Until recently, ammonia smelling salts were a regular fixture in boxing trainers’ tool kits as well.
Currently it’s banned by all boxing organizations even though there are no direct health risks shown with occasional use.
According to the World Boxing Union’s official rules,
The administration or use of drugs, injections, and stimulants, either before or during a match, to any Boxer or by any Boxer is prohibited. This includes smelling salts, ammonia capsules, or similar irritants.
Below we’ll go into further detail as to why these substances are banned in boxing.
Smelling Salts Can Give One Fighter An Unfair Advantage
First, smelling salts are banned in boxing because they can give one fighter an unfair advantage.
This is the reason that most boxing organizations cite for banning smelling salts.
Without this ruling, there’s nothing stopping trainers from treating smelling salts like a performance enhancing drug and giving it to their fighter in between each round.
When fighters see how a substance helps them in the ring, they may push the limit and start to use more potent substances to give them an extra edge over the competition.
Smelling Salts Can Mask Underlying Head Damage
Next, smelling salts are banned in boxing because they can mask underlying head damage.
To us, this is the biggest reason why smelling salts should be banned in boxing.
When you’re knocked out, your brain does a hard-reset and shuts down your body as a natural reaction to avoid taking more damage.
Though using smelling salts will revive you, there’s a growing concern that this masks severe injuries and head damage.
Current research shows that use of ammonia compounds can mask short-term concussion symptoms in athletes.
This is similar to how caffeine can hide sleepiness and fatigue until you crash hours later.
The initial energy burst of using smelling salts may mask head trauma that will only become obvious after a fight.
Once this burst wears off, you’ll be left to defend yourself in your damaged and addled state, which can leave you even more vulnerable to your opponent’s attacks.
Smelling Salts Can Damage The Lungs and Nasal Membrane
Next, smelling salts are banned in boxing because they can damage the lungs and nasal membrane.
Though there are few studies that show the physiological effects of prolonged use of smelling salts in sports, inhaling ammonia can be damaging to the nasal and lung membranes in large concentrations.
The research we do have shows that prolonged exposure to ammonia inhalants can cause chemical burns to the nasal passages as well as to the lungs.
If you have asthma or allergies that are easily triggered, use of ammonia salts can cause difficulty breathing.
Of course, most boxers won’t be inhaling smelling salts every round or during every boxing workout.
(If you need to be revived after every round, take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself if boxing is for you.)
Smelling Salts Can Cause Neck Damage
Lastly, smelling salts are banned in boxing because they can cause neck damage.
It’s important to note that this has less to do with the drug itself, and more with the way that it’s used by a trainer.
Some trainers put the smelling salts too close to the fighter’s nose, instead of keeping it at a safe distance away and letting the scent rise up to the boxers nose.
When a fighter inhales ammonia gas directly, his immediate reflex is to jerk his head back away from the source and breathe in fresh oxygen.
This quick head jerk has the same movement as taking an uppercut and can cause damage to the neck and spine.
Conclusion
Though inhaling smelling salts for boxing seems useful, today it’s an outdated practice.
With the prevalence of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) by professional athletes, we wouldn’t be surprised if some boxers find ways around these rules.
(Though we don’t see why, as the effect of smelling salts is typically short-lived and won’t last a whole round.)
For example, a fighter could bypass this rule by mixing any stimulant into the water he drinks in between rounds.
With the improved technology and knowledge of sports medicine today, perhaps there will be a better alternative to smelling salts in the near future that boxers can use.
If you’re having trouble deciding what boxing equipment to get, check out these articles:
- Best Boxing Jump Ropes
- Best Boxing Gloves
- Best Boxing Hand Wraps
- Best Boxing Head Gear
- Best Boxing Shoes
- Best Boxing Groin Protectors
Sources
- Bartolomei, Sandro1; Nigro, Federico2; Gubellini, Luca3; Semprini, Gabriele3; Ciacci, Simone3; Hoffman, Jay R.1; Merni, Franco3. Acute Effects of Ammonia Inhalants on Strength and Power Performance in Trained Men. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 32(1):p 244-247, January 2018. | DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002171
- Malecek, Jan MS; Tufano, James J. PhD. Effects of Ammonia Inhalants in Humans: A Review of the Current Literature Regarding the Benefits, Risks, and Efficacy. Strength and Conditioning Journal 43(6):p 76-86, December 2021. | DOI: 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000630
- McCrory P. Smelling salts. Br J Sports Med. 2006 Aug;40(8):659-60. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2006.029710. PMID: 16864561; PMCID: PMC2579444.
World Boxing Union. “Rules & Fees”. http://info.wbu-boxing.com/sample-page/