Are you worried about your Anosmia?
Lack of smell can be caused by:
- Blockages
- Illness
- Infection medication
- Lifestyle choices
- Age
If your anosmia (or hyposmia) is causing you stress or unhappiness, you should contact a GP to see if they can help, it could improve your quality of life dramatically. More recently loss of smell has become synonymous with Covid 19, if your anosmia has come on suddenly or you have other symptoms of the virus you should take a test and act within government guidelines.
If you are prone to allergies further medical assistance is not usually needed as symptoms tend to go away on their own. For mild short term symptoms you can try to clear and open up our nostrils to improve your breathing by using over the counter decongestants or saltwater solutions. In general it is also helpful to stop smoking.
Anosmia caused by cold or allergies tends to go away after a few days, so if your symptoms cannot be attributed to these things and you've had them for a week or more consulting your GP to get a proper diagnosis is recommended.
Potential treatments include:
- Antibiotics
- The removal of things blocking nasal passageways
- Minor surgery
In rare cases loss of smell can be permanent.
Here at VIDA we have expert clinicians on hand to help diagnose and treat your condition. To find out more about these services, we recommend visiting the following pages:
- Acute sinusitis (nasal and sinus infection)
- Aging
- Alzheimer's disease
- Brain aneurysm
- Brain surgery
- Brain tumor
- Chronic sinusitis
- Common cold
- Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
- Deviated septum
- Diabetes
- Exposure to chemicals in certain insecticides or solventsHuntington's disease
- Hay fever (allergic rhinitis)
- Huntington's disease
- Influenza (flu)
- Kallmann's syndrome (a rare genetic condition)
- Klinefelter syndrome (a rare condition in which males have an extra X chromosome in most of their cells)
- Korsakoff's psychosis (a brain disorder caused by the lack of thiamin)
- Lewy body dementia
- Medications
- Multiple sclerosis
- Nasal polyps
- Niemann-Pick
- Nonallergic rhinitis (chronic congestion or sneezing not related to allergies)
- Paget's disease of bone (a disease that affects your bones)
- Parkinson's disease
- Poor nutrition
- Radiation therapy
- Rhinoplasty
- Schizophrenia
- Sjogren's syndrome (an inflammatory disease that generally causes dry mouth and eyes)
- Smoking
- Traumatic brain injury
- Tumors
- Zinc deficiency
- Zinc-containing nasal sprays (taken off the market in 2009)
How long does anosmia last?
Anosmia may last up to 3- 4 weeks. There are treatment methods that can help to improve your sense of smell including:
- Smell Testing
- Steroid nasal sprays
- Nasal cleaning ( with saltwater solution)
For some people loss of smell may be a permanent condition that can impact daily life. Speaking to a doctor to understand how to function with anosmia can bring peace to many people.
How long does loss of smell last with sinus infection?
Losing your sense of smell due a sinus infection is not uncommon. Allow time for you sinus infection to clear up fully as you may find your sense of smell coming back.
If you have fully recovered from a sinus infection and your sense of smell has not returned after a few weeks you may want to speak to a doctor to find out what can be done to improve your sense of smell.
Can antibiotics cause loss of smell?
Every type of medication carries side effects. One of them side effects can be loss of smell. Sometimes this is only a temporary side effect and may not be a side of an antibiotics but may be a side effect of a surgical procedure.