Smell sense, loss of
Can anosmia be cured?
Whether or not anosmia can be cured depends on the underlying cause.
People with congenital anosmia have a lifelong inability to smell and have no concept of what a smell even is. Currently, there's no known cure or treatment for congenital anosmia.
However, other types of anosmia may be improved or cured when the underlying condition is treated. For example, if the cause is swelling in the nose or sinuses, steroids can usually clear this up and restore your sense of smell.
Treatments that may help, depending on your condition, are:
- nasal washing (douching)
- a steroid nasal spray
- an antihistamine
- steroid tablets
- an operation to have nasal polyps removed
- an operation to straighten the nasal septum
- an operation to clear out the sinuses, called endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) (see below)
These treatments may come with unpleasant side effects. Speak to your doctor about whether any of these treatments may be suitable for you and, if so, what side effects you may experience.
ESS
In bilateral endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS), the surgeon opens all your sinuses and clears them out to reduce inflammation and allow nasal rinses and sprays to reach them.In some centres, this may involve the use of an image guidance system (IGS) to map out your sinuses. ESS also involves removing any polyps present at the same time.
This treatment can bring back some sense of smell for many people with anosmia when medication alone has failed. However, if you don't keep taking your nasal medications afterwards, the anosmia is likely to return.
If you've had surgery to remove nasal polyps, it's quite common for these to grow back, and many people find they need another operation. However, ESS may reduce the need for further surgery.
A recent journal publication looked at how successful ESS with IGS was in treating patients withchronic frontalsinusitis, some of whom also had nasal polyps. Data from a five-year period showed that only four patients out of 141 (3%) needed to have further surgery after having ESS with IGSas their first operation. IGS is not available in all hospitals,but may beperformed by specialist centres where possible.
Medically Reviewed by a doctor on 21 Dec 2018
Introduction
Anosmia is the medical term for loss of the sense of smell. It's usually caused by a nasal condition or brain injury, but some people are born without a sense of smell (congenital anosmia)
Seeing your GP
Your GP will want to take your full medical history, examine the inside of your nose and take a blood sample for testing in a laboratory. Your doctor may refer you to an ear, nose and throat (ENT) sp
What are the causes?
There are several medical conditions and medications associated with a loss of smell. The possible causes include: a viral infection affecting the upper respiratory tract , such as a cold persis
Can anosmia be cured?
Whether or not anosmia can be cured depends on the underlying cause. People with congenital anosmia have a lifelong inability to smell and have no concept of what a smell even is. Currently, there's
Safety
If you have anosmia, you'll need to take special precautions because you won't be able to smell fires, poisonous fumes, leaking gas or food that has gone off. It's recommended that you: install sm
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