If you’re living with a reduced or distorted sense of smell, you’re not alone – and there are things you can do that may help. These ten smell loss recovery tips are grounded in expert advice and lived experience, offering practical steps to support your recovery and help you feel more in control of your condition.
Improve your chances of recovering from smell loss with knowledge, well-being, and self care
- Learn as much as you can about your individual condition. Keep asking questions, and don’t be afraid to jump into the science. YouTube can be a great source of information. Knowledge is power.
- Smell training, smell training, smell training. If you’ve had post-viral or traumatic loss–this is the number one message I have for you. Learn about why smell training is effective, and how the brain responds. If you don’t understand this, it will be hard to keep going with it.
- Look after your mental health. Accept that it is totally normal to experience depression after smell loss. We all handle depression in our own way, but I encourage you to seek help and talk about how this affects your life. Doing so with others who are like you is very helpful. When you think you can’t cope, remind yourself: today is just one day.
- Take the best care of your nose that you can. If it’s been recommended by your doctor, nasal rinsing is a great choice. It is not harmful in any way if done according to the directions. There are lots of different ways to do this and one method is sure to fit your lifestyle. Nasal rinsing is a great way to clear excess mucus from your airways and helps with post-nasal drip.
- Understand any drugs, sprays, etc that you’ve been given by your doctor. Not all sprays are the same and it is very easy to overuse some of them! The overuse of decongestants can lead to damage of the tissues inside the nose. Have you had training in using nose drops? There’s a new method now that is better than hanging your head off the bed.
- Learn how to manage yourself if you get a cold or other upper respiratory condition. It’s easy to panic if this happens–often your sense of smell will dim temporarily. Learn about this so that you feel more confident if this happens.
- Think carefully about your everyday experience of smell. Instead of passing a blooming bush and thinking “I can’t smell that”, stop, take a moment, and dive into your experience. Imagine you are listening to hear a pebble drop into a deep well. It will take time, and it will be faint. Any kind of a smell signal is good, even if it is meaningless. Do this as often as you can.
- Look after your general health. Get enough sleep and plenty of exercise. Get outdoors. Reduce the stress in your life. These are easy things to say, difficult to accomplish. Engage friends or a partner to be your buddy to do these things. Nurturing this will make you feel better in all kinds of ways.
- Think about your airflow. Are there obstructions when you breath in? Do you feel stuffy all the time? An easy way to check this is to hold a mirror or a smartphone under your nostrils and exhale. The steam on the glass should be roughly symmetrical. If it’s not, you might see your doctor. It’s happened plenty of times that people who lost the sense of smell during the pandemic later discovered they had polyps.
- Finally – no one can look after your sense of smell better than you. You can do a lot to help your own recovery. Keep going! We are here to cheer you on your way.
Key Takeaway
Recovering your sense of smell is often a slow and uncertain journey, but these smell loss recovery tips are real, practical things you can do to support it. From daily smell training to caring for your nasal health, understanding medication, and tuning in to faint smell signals, each step matters. With knowledge, consistency, and self-care, recovery is sometimes possible.
