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USA Today–Section: SPORTS
Wed., Aug. 20, 1997
Ironclad cures for pain?
Athletes put their faith in power
of magnets
By Sal Ruibal
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Denver
Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski KO's quarterbacks, then sleeps like a
baby on a 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
magnets strapped to his lower back.
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
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 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.
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 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
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