USA Today–Section: SPORTS
Wed., Aug. 20, 1997
Ironclad cures for pain?
Athletes put their faith in power of magnets
By Sal Ruibal
Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski KO's quarterbacks, then sleeps like a baby on a bio-magnetic mattress pad.
Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu throws a wicked split-finger fastball with dozens of magnets stuck to his body.
Senior PGA Tour golfer Jim Colbert swings for the greens with dollar bill-sized bio-magnets strapped to his lower back.
Bio-Magnetic
therapy is the hottest trend among professional athletes. But the idea
of using magnetic fields to increase blood circulation in injured
tissue and encourage healing by stimulating the nervous system goes
back thousands of years to ancient Greece and Egypt. The original
Olympic athletes might have used magnets.
And in the same way
that today's top athletes influence fashion and language, their
eagerness to embrace alternative healing techniques is influencing the
public: U.S. consumers will spend more than $500 million this year on
bio-magnetic pads, bracelets, shoe inserts, back wraps and seat
cushions, the magnet companies say.
The trend is so lucrative,
athletes are adding brand-name magnets to their list of endorsements,
along with sneakers and soda pops.
Colbert, top money winner on
the PGA Senior Tour the last two years, endorses Tectonic Magnets. Pro
Bowl linebacker Romanowski works for BIOflex Magnets. Former San
Francisco 49er Ronnie Lott, now a football analyst for the Fox TV
network, is a spokesman for and part-owner of BioMagnetics
International.
Romanowski began using bio-magnets seven years
ago while a member of the 49ers but didn't take them seriously. The
team trainer had recommended them, but it was not until Romanowski had
offseason surgery that he adopted the idea.
``I'm a believer,
definitely,'' he says. ``The first time I tried them, I got pain
relief. It wasn't mental. I know it wasn't mental because I know my
body.''
Because they know their bodies, it's natural that top
athletes would be attracted to alternative therapies, says Dinnie
Pearson, a Cranial-Sacral therapist with the Mind/Body Center in King
of Prussia, Pa.
``Athletes use a lot of mental imagery,
visualizing the correct muscle movements for their sport,'' Pearson
says. ``They can use that same powerful tool for healing, contacting
injured areas to focus on that tissue to help it in the natural healing
process.''
Gregg Westwood, a somatic psychotherapist at the
Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colo., says, ``Athletes are more
courageous about taking the kinds of risks that lead to understanding
how their bodies work.''
San Diego Padres trainer Larry Duensing
says few of his players use magnets on a regular basis, but some,
notably outfielder Chris Jones, have tried them to rid soreness. ``It's
just another tool available to them,'' Duensing says.
Although the Padres aren't big on magnets, they have turned to acupuncture.
The
Chiba Lotte Marines, Irabu's former team in Japan, attended spring
training this season with the Padres. The Marines' trainers, observing
the big-league operation and trainers, introduced the Padres to
acupuncture.
General manager Kevin Towers became a convert when
acupuncture helped alleviate his back pain, and he had an acupuncturist
travel with the team earlier this year. The team credits the therapy
with helping second baseman Quilvio Veras get over hamstring problems.
``I
think it's great,'' Towers says. ``I know it worked on me. It blocks
the nerve endings and takes the pain away. It's very relaxing. I'd go
back.''
Not understanding how an alternative therapy works is no
roadblock for jocks in search of relief, but it can be for the federal
government.
Bio-Magnetic therapy has not been approved by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but the National Institutes of
Health are investigating the phenomenon.
The NIH Office of
Alternative Medicine, which was created only five years ago, is funding
a study of bio-magnetic therapy at the University of Virginia's School
of Nursing.
Broncos safety Steve Atwater isn't waiting for the scientists to bless his magnets.
``I
don't know what it is, but it works,'' the 30-year-old, seven-time Pro
Bowl player says. ``I figure it can't hurt me, and it may help me.''
Contributing: Jim Lassiter
Reporting by Sal Ruibal and Tammi Wark, USA TODAY