What are Smelling Salts and How Do They Work?

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Smelling salts have been used for everything, from reviving those who have fainted to athletes needing a chemically-induced “wake up.” But what are smelling salts? Are they actually an effective medical treatment? How do they work? Are they toxic and dangerous?

Sources:

[b.w.]

“When a person passes out, they sometimes lose consciousness....” Groundbreaking.

[rancidpitts]

During Desert Storm in 1991 One of my soldiers kept himself awake for four days by the use of Smelling Salts. We discovered his use by his sudden onset of a massive Headache. The Doctors at the MASH ER had never seen a case like this. People who stayed awake that long had used Meth or Steroids according to the Doctors, but they had diffent symptoms.
Soldier thought he was going to die. He thought his brain exploded. Moral of this incident is use as directed.

[LeoS]

Who’s here after seeing joe and theo try smelling salts?

[melcollins]

Had the pleasure of smelling salts after passing out at a tattoo parlor. Passed out after getting a belly ring for whatever reason. Heard a quick snap & almost instantly bolted awake & quickly threw up in a pail next to me. The tattoo artist who had used the smelling salts was very excited having never gotten to use them before. Lucky me.
It's what I would imagine snorting cat piss would feel like.

[OceanBagel]

"When a person passes out, they sometimes lose consciousness."

🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[antrazitaj]

I experienced smelling salts once. I fainted during a concert (as one of the performers) and yes, it really works. To be fair, in my case it was a combination of bad circulation and no movement in the cold, so laying on the floor itself would have been enough to wake me up again, but you do what you can to get your nose away from that smell

[gabriel]

Me: Puts on belt, huffs Ammonia, slaps a cloud of chalk and hits a 450 deadlift PR

Yoga class: 😟😳

[evanlucas]

We had some of the capsules in an old medical kit. They were expiring so we decided to give them a try before we replaced them. The best way to describe it is like being slapped in the face. I have never had such an intense physical reaction from a smell.

[SaBoTeUr]

Ammonium carbonate is still being used in Austria for making gingerbread. My friend's dad baked a huge batch when I visited one Christmas. He apologized for the whiff of the kitchen, but the advantage over regular baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is that it completely decomposes to gases in the heat of the oven, and will never leave a bitter salt behind if you put too much.

[BeatlesFanSonia]

I have only fainted one time in my life after a surgery. I think the fear of having that horrible stuff used on me again keeps me wide awake and alert.

[TelesPlayMetal]

I’ve been a paramedic in Southern California for 25 years and these were removed from our scope of practice well before my time. I did use them in an ER in the 90’s though and they do work as intended.

[zlatapinotic]

Whole my life I thought smelling salts was regular salt drenched in essential oils. I never even considered it could be something else and have no idea how I came up with the idea. This video really blew my mind. Keep it up! :)

[DorkKnight]

Sal Amoniac sounds like an Italian divorce lawyer.

[kbrock]

Had a bottle of the stuff back in the day from the late 1900s (was my grandmother's), and I opened it up and took a huge smell because I didn't know what it was and it had "lavender" on the label. Well, while they might revive you when you're out cold, they do the opposite if you're already conscious. 😂

Edit: late 1800s, not 1900s

[netkissa]

In Finland this compound - at least when used for baking - is called moose antler salt.

[WizzyFilms]

Smelling salts are also big with strongmen and weight lifters.

[eugenebean]

I fainted for the first time recently. I was really high and laughing with friends on xbox live. The combination of being high and laughing super hard made me light headed and I blacked out and fell over in my chair, and I came to about 5 seconds later with my chair and all my stuff on top of me.

[Dj.MODÆO]

Boxers and professional fighters in the 1800s and early 1900s used smelling salts and ether so regularly, the term “knockout” is still used to this day. Fighters would soak ether into their forward glove and soak smelling salts into the glove on the defense hand they kept close to their face. They would use the glove smothered in smelling salts to counteract the effects of their opponents ether laced punches, and counteract their own ether soaked glove if they were forced into defense and needed to keep both hands close to their face. This wasn’t considered cheating but instead drastically reduced the number of boxing deaths and brain injuries by making the matches much shorter and by forcing fighters to always be as defensive as they were offensive. It was considered a safer way to fight, by “knocking the opponent out” rather than for the opponents to just beat each other till death or serious injury.

[butIwantpewee]

I work for an engineering company that uses huge amounts of ammonia gas. The whole place has a general ammonia smell but if an exhaust gets blocked and we have to clear it out you get a face full of the lovely stuff. It's quite common too, I had it twice last week alone. It did wake me up though and get my attention at 4am on a night shift so at least it's effective lol.

[Kirsten_is_cursed]

When I was 9 I fainted after getting a flu shot in an Albertsons and woke to someone shoving something like this in my face. It felt like it was burning my throat and nose so badly and my whole body convulsed like the world’s hardest sneeze. It was low key a terrible experience but I’m glad I now know why they do it lol.