"Smell Training" Helps Restore Your Sense of Smell After Contracting Covid-19

The loss of smell is one of the Covid symptoms a person will have. For the majority of people who contracted the life-threatening disease, the symptom still lingers even after months of recovery. "Smell training" restores your sense of smell after contracting Covid-19.

About 1 in 5 people notice a decreased sense of smell, 8 weeks after contracting the virus. The smell is an important element in eating food. If you cannot smell, you won't be able to taste the food you're eating. Thus, you cannot eat well because you lose your appetite. 

Last month, the University of East Anglia (UEA) published a study in association with several global universities. The research suggested that "smell training" is a more capable process of restoring your sense of smell instead of using corticosteroids. It is a type of drug that reduces body inflammation. However, this so-called pill and dip-free method are less than effective.

"It has emerged as a cheap, simple, and side-effect-free treatment. "It aims to help recovery based on neuroplasticity - the brain's ability to reorganize itself to compensate for a change or injury," UEA's Norwich Medical School, smell loss expert Professor Carl Philpott.

Dr. Philpott added that corticosteroids are usually prescribed to patients to help alleviate health conditions such as asthma. The drug has been considered as a therapeutic option for smell loss due to the Covid-19 virus. But with the adverse effect it gives to people, it must not be prescribed as medication for post-viral smell loss.

Smell training involves inhaling at least 4 different odors two times a day for several months. It is considered to be more efficient at developing the sense back up. Patients who experienced a loss of smell will have their sense of smell back "spontaneously." However, to regain it faster, smell training can be helpful. 

The research showed that 90% of the patients who lost their sense of smell due to the Covid-19 virus would fully regain it after 6 months.