A research review published in December 2025 examined whether platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, could offer an additional treatment option for people with long-term smell loss. Loss or distortion of the sense of smell is far more common than many people realise, affecting roughly one in four individuals at some point in their lives.
Smell disorders can develop after sinus disease, viral infections such as COVID-19, head injuries, medication side effects, or as part of the ageing process. Although smell loss is often underestimated, it can have a meaningful impact on daily life. People may enjoy food less, struggle to detect dangers such as smoke or spoiled food, and feel more isolated in social situations. Research has also linked long-term smell loss to emotional distress and poorer overall health outcomes. Unfortunately, recovery is unpredictable, and many individuals continue to experience symptoms despite treatment.
Standard treatments for smell loss typically include nasal steroid sprays, saline rinses, and smell-training exercises. While these approaches help some people, results are inconsistent, and improvement is often partial or temporary. Smell training remains the most widely recommended non-medical approach, particularly for post-viral smell loss, and you can read more about why it is considered the number one tool for recovery here.
Because effective options are limited, researchers have begun exploring new therapies that may help repair the damaged smell system. One such option is PRP for smell loss. PRP, or platelet-rich plasma, is made from a person’s own blood and contains a concentrated mix of platelets and growth factors known to support healing and tissue regeneration. PRP is already used in other areas of medicine, which has prompted interest in whether it could help restore smell function.
This article reviewed and combined data from seven clinical studies involving nearly 800 adults with long-standing smell loss lasting more than six months. Importantly, all participants had failed to improve with standard treatments before receiving PRP. Across the studies, people who received PRP generally showed greater improvement in their sense of smell than those who received no treatment or a placebo. Improvements were reported both in people’s own perception of their smell ability and in objective smell tests used by clinicians. Some benefits were seen as early as one month after treatment, and several studies reported improvement lasting up to a year.
Age appeared to play an important role in treatment response. Younger participants, particularly those under 40 years old, experienced more consistent and larger improvements compared to older adults. This may be because younger nerves and tissues have a greater capacity to regenerate. Safety findings were reassuring. Most studies reported no side effects, and when side effects did occur, they were mild and short-lived, such as nasal discomfort, pressure, or minor nosebleeds.
Despite these promising findings, the authors highlighted several important limitations. The number of high-quality randomised trials is still small, and studies varied widely in how PRP was prepared, how much was used, how often it was given, and how it was delivered. Different smell tests were also used across studies, making direct comparisons more difficult. In addition, most participants had smell loss related to COVID-19, so the results may not apply equally to other causes such as head injury or chronic sinus disease.
Although these results are encouraging, PRP for smell loss should not be seen as a proven or guaranteed treatment. It may be considered an additional option for carefully selected people who continue to experience smell problems despite trying established approaches such as nasal sprays and smell training. More high-quality research is needed to confirm how effective PRP truly is, who is most likely to benefit, and the safest and most effective way to deliver it. Until then, PRP should be approached as a promising but still experimental therapy rather than a routine solution.
Source
Jafar AB, et al. Efficacy of Platelet-Rich Plasma Versus Placebo for Persistent Olfactory Dysfunction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
This open-access research review examined clinical studies on PRP for smell loss and compared outcomes with placebo groups. Full article available at PubMed Central.
