Losing your sense of smell or taste can really impact daily life but there are treatments available to help regain these senses again!
Anosmia is a challenging disease but finding treatment options may lead to resolving this condition.
The natural ability to smell is taken for granted. Scents evoke memories and bring us joy and pleasure. They also alert us to danger. The inability to smell smoke or gas can put you at increased risk of danger.
When this most important sense is lost quality of life is not only diminished but it can also lead to anxiety and depression.
The recent 2 years have brought about more awareness around this health issue with a study from Italy showing 64% of 202 mildly symptomatic patients reported impaired olfaction after Covid-19.
Conventionally glucocorticoids are used to treat olfactory dysfunction, but studies have shown of neural damage in the early phase of treatment.
What Causes Anosmia?
Anosmia can occur for various reasons.
This condition increases with age. In fact losing your sense of smell is associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Loss of smell is commonly caused by polyps or rhinitis which lead to inflammation of the nasal passages.
Most recently the corona virus has lead to a rise in anosmia with a number of sufferers experiencing long term loss of smell.
This can be an upsetting and disturbing experience but studies are beginning to show ways to recover.
5 Ways to Regain Sense of Smell after Covid
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Zinc – a PubMed study reports that smell/taste alteration in COVID-19 may reflect zinc deficiency. It is useful to take a zinc test to evaluate deficiency. Zincatest is a simple non-invasive test, which gives an indication of zinc status and can also be taken as a zinc supplement. You can read more about zinc deficiency here.
- Smell training – using essential oils, especially rose, lemon, clove, eucalyptus. There are reports already showing that smell training using essential oils improves recovery from anosmia.
- Gingko biloba – In a study of 43 patients with post-viral olfactory loss those who were prescribed ginkgo led to more efficient treatment compared to those given steroid prednisolone and mometasone furoate (corticosteroid) nasal spray alone.
- Turmeric – is well-known for its anti-inflammatory properties but it may also be a little-known remedy for anosmia. Two interesting cases showed rapid improvement in taste and smell after taking a turmeric and black pepper supplement.
- Lavender syrup – A new study has shown lavender syrup to be an effective treatment COVID-19-induced anosmia. Twenty-three patients with post-viral loss of smell took 9ml of lavender syrup for three weeks. Make lavender syrup here.
