Ways to regain your sense of smell

Your smell sense gives you a superpower. Without moving a muscle or opening your eyes, it helps you detect danger, store or trigger memories, discern flavors, or get a rush of feel-good chemicals during a meal. So you can imagine that losing your sense of smell (a problem doctors call anosmia) can be devastating. Many millions of people have been experiencing it as a common side effect of COVID-19. Other conditions also can lead to anosmia.

When it occurs, you need to try to regain the sense as soon as possible. "The longer you go without it, the less likely you are to recover it," says Dr. Neil Bhattacharyya, an ear, nose, and throat specialist (otolaryngologist) at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear.

Why did you lose it?

Your sense of smell is made possible by your olfactory system. This includes thousands of sensory cells in the nasal cavity that detect odors (entering through the nose or mouth) and send information to the brain via olfactory nerves. If the olfactory nerves become inflamed or damaged, they may not function properly, and you may lose your sense of smell.

Causes of anosmia include nasal polyps, sinus problems, head trauma, chemotherapy side effects, brain tumors, neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease, or viral infections such as COVID-19.

Why might a viral infection affect smell sense? "Some viruses infect the olfactory nerves or the cells near them, attack them, and damage them," Dr. Bhattacharyya says. "It could also be that inflammation surrounding the nerves causes damage."

Consequences of smell loss

Anosmia has serious consequences. It shuts down your ability to sniff out hazardous odors, and it also steals much of your ability to taste and appreciate food. Loss of taste occurs because your olfactory sensory cells are responsible for most of your perception of flavor. (By comparison, the taste buds in your tongue detect whether a food is sweet, salty, sour, bitter, or savory.)

When everything tastes like cardboard, you lose the pleasure of eating. "It hurts your quality of life," Dr. Bhattacharyya says. "I have a patient whose wife is an exceptionally good cook. When he first lost his smell and taste senses, he ate less, lost 50 pounds, and became depressed. Now he's underweight."

Will you get it back?

If you have anosmia from a chronic neurological problem, such as Parkinson's disease, Dr. Bhattacharyya says the chances of recovering your smell sense aren't great. If the anosmia is due to a temporary condition, such as COVID-19, the chances are better that your smell sense will return within a few months, though it's not guaranteed.

For example, a study conducted by Dr. Bhattacharyya and his colleagues, published online June 2, 2023, by Laryngoscope, found that about 21 million Americans reported losing smell and taste from COVID in 2021, and almost 30% said they still hadn't fully regained the senses approximately 12-to-18 months later.

But there's hope: Dr. Bhattacharyya says the sense of smell is neuroplastic, meaning it sometimes regenerates.

Smell retraining

If you've lost your sense of smell, don't wait around for it to come back. "We used to tell people to wait six months before they came to see us about it," Dr. Bhattacharyya says. "But now we want you to begin smell retraining therapy as soon as possible to activate the body's recovery process."

Smell retraining therapy is simply a matter of sniffing a wide variety of odor-generating elements. About six to 10 different types of scents will do, such as lemons or oranges, flowery perfumes, peanut butter, eucalyptus, rosemary, cinnamon, pine, peppermint, or cloves. You can use materials that you have at home or buy a smell retraining kit online (commonly found on Amazon.com) for about $15 to $35.

"Once or twice a day, smell each scent for 30 seconds to two minutes. As you do, think about what you're smelling, and try to recall moments when you've smelled this before. For example, cut open an orange, inhale its aroma, and think about another time when you savored a fresh, delicious orange," Dr. Bhattacharyya says. "That triggers odor particle recognition. It's deeply seated in the brain, but you have to stimulate it to re-establish function. You're retraining the brain."

Try this therapy every day for at least four weeks, Dr. Bhattacharrya suggests. If smell sense doesn't return, see an otolaryngologist to rule out underlying conditions that may be causing anosmia. Treating an underlying condition may restore your sense of smell. And if you can smell again, you'll be able to taste and enjoy food again, and restore your quality of life.

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