Losing your sense of smell is an unsettling experience that affects your ability to taste your favorite foods, smell flowers in Trinley Park and more. Full or partial loss of smell is called anosmia. Let’s take a look at how your sense of smell works, a few common causes of temporary and permanent anosmia and how you can manage them to enjoy all the wonderful aromas in your life.
How Does Your Sense of Smell Work?
When you catch the scent of flowers in your yard, you’re inhaling tiny molecules from the flowers into a small patch of tissue inside your nose. This patch contains specialized cells called olfactory sensory neurons that connect directly to your brain, which then recognizes and identifies the scent as flowers. When something interferes with this process, you lose the ability to smell.
What Can Interfere With Your Sense of Smell?
There are two different types of interference in your sense of smell:
- Blockage. Approximately 12% of the United States population is experiencing congestion at any given moment. Conditions that cause congestion and physically block molecules from entering your nose include nasal polyps, the common cold, flu, deviated septum, sinus infection and hay fever.
- Signal interference. There are a few conditions that can interfere with the signals sent from your nose to your brain, including Alzheimer’s disease, brain tumors, multiple sclerosis (MS), high blood pressure, Parkinson’s disease, Kallmann syndrome and Sjogren’s syndrome.
Approximately 1,000 people in the United States have congenital anosmia, meaning they were born without a sense of smell.
How Can You Treat Anosmia?
Your ENT specialist will likely identify and treat the underlying cause of your anosmia. Common treatment options include:
- Antibiotics to clear up infections
- Surgery to remove nasal polyps or fix a deviated septum
- Seeing a specialist to treat conditions causing signal interference
- Running a humidifier to loosen mucus
- Short-term decongestants
- Sleeping with your head elevated to clear congestion
- Allergy medication or immunotherapy
Losing your sense of smell can feel alarming, but our ENT specialists can help diagnose the underlying cause, find the right treatment options and get you back to enjoying your favorite scents. Contact Pinnacle ENT Associates today to make an appointment with one of our trusted experts.