I do not feel the taste and smell. Classification of olfactory disorders. Traditional methods of treatment.

Without smell and taste, the world seems dull, monotonous and boring. Despite the fact that smell and taste cannot be compared to such important senses as sight and hearing, it is very, very difficult to live without smell. You cannot feel your favorite coffee aroma in the morning, do not show concern if you suddenly smell of smoke, and do not appreciate your friend's new perfume. Life without taste is even worse - would you like monotonous food, devoid of any flavors ?!

It is possible to regain the sense of smell and hearing, but first you need to decide, as a result of which you can lose these important and much-needed senses.

Why the sense of smell and taste is lost

In the nose, a person has an olfactory cavity, the surface of which is different from the mucous membrane. This cavity contains a huge number of receptors that send information about various smells to the brain. After processing this information, the brain remembers and associates the smell with a certain event. We all know how fresh strawberries or oranges smell. Sometimes the smell can be associated with something unpleasant - all this is painstaking work of the brain. However, sometimes extraneous odors simply cannot make their way to the olfactory cavity due to swelling of the mucous membrane - that is, the smell simply does not move. There are several reasons that lead to loss of smell and taste, let's consider the main ones.

1. The most common and common cause is a runny nose. This is especially true if rhinitis is not treated for a long time. The virus enters the mucous membrane, because of which mucus begins to be produced, puffiness appears. With a viral infection of the body, taste is also lost.
2. Injuries, fractures and curvature of the nasal septum also prevent odor from entering.
3. Various growths, polyps, tumors also close the passage to the olfactory cavity.
4. Sometimes the loss of taste and smell is due to an allergic reaction. When dust, pollen, animal hair and other allergens enter the nose, the mucous membrane also begins to produce mucus and swell.
5. Sinusitis, frontal sinusitis, sinusitis and other inflammations in the nasal appendages, as well as chronic forms of these diseases, often lead to loss of taste and olfactory qualities.
6. Often, loss of smell occurs due to an overdose of vasoconstrictor drops. Everyone knows that these drugs are aimed at alleviating the patient's condition, but in no way have medicinal properties. Such drops can be used no more than 3-4 times a day, they cannot be used for more than 5 days, otherwise addiction arises. With constant use of vasoconstrictor drops, the vessels atrophy, they cannot contract and unclench on their own, their nutrition is disturbed, which leads to a loss of smell.
7. Sometimes loss of smell and taste can occur due to hormonal changes in a woman's body. This is often observed during pregnancy, after the start of taking new oral contraceptives, during menstruation.
8. If your work involves the constant inhalation of poisons, chemicals, paint and varnish odors, the sense of smell may suffer from this.
9. Smokers often complain about the lack of smell and taste, who slowly kill their receptors from year to year. It is often impossible to restore the ability to capture smells.

Surely you know the approximate reason for the loss of smell and taste. If you stop feeling smells and tastes suddenly, for no apparent reason, you need to see a doctor for an accurate diagnosis.

If you are not ready to put up with the current state of affairs, you need to try to regain your feelings in order to enjoy the aromas of the world around you again.

1. Treatment. First you need to remove the swelling of the mucous membrane, and for this you need to eliminate the very cause of the cold. If you have an allergic rhinitis, take antihistamines, and if you have a cold, start taking anti-inflammatory drugs. Use vasoconstrictor drops, but not if you have been dependent on them for a long time.
2. Gymnastics. Gymnastics for the nose is very effective. It improves blood circulation in the nasal cavity, which allows the receptors to be activated. Try to open the wings of the nose while contracting the muscles. Hold this position for a minute, repeat the exercise several times.
3. Massage. Massage the wings of the nose with your fingers several times a day. This promotes blood flow, improves receptor function.
4. Warming up. You can warm the nasal cavity ultraviolet lamp, and if not, use a regular lamp. Aim the light and heat rays at your nose so that the lamp is 25 cm away from your face. Warming up should be daily for a week.
5. Inhalation. It is very effective to breathe hot air, which disinfects the nasal cavity from the inside, infecting the virus. If you add essential oils of peppermint and eucalyptus to the liquid for inhalation, this will help you immediately get rid of swelling of the mucous membrane. To restore the ability to capture odors and tastes, the following inhalation formulation can be made. Prepare a decoction of calendula, add lemon juice, mint essential oil and a little caraway seeds to it. Inhale the fumes of the cooked broth - they are very useful both for restoring the sense of smell and against the runny nose itself.
6. Washing. It is very effective against the common cold and for restoring the taste buds. Flush your nose with salty water using a small kettle - insert the spout into one nostril so that the liquid comes out of the other nostril. If such a procedure is not within your power, drip seawater-based medicines into your nose - Aquamaris, Delphi, Humer.
7. Drops. If you feel that the mucous membrane is dry, use nasal drops based on medicinal oils, for example, Pinosol.

Don't forget about the air quality in the room you are in. It is very important that the air in the room is moist and the nasal mucosa does not dry out.

1. Prepare small cotton swabs that you need to soak in honey and place in your nose. Honey has antiseptic properties, it will help restore the functioning of receptors.
2. The pungent smell of horseradish, onions, mustard and garlic will help restore your sense of smell. Inhale these scents as often as possible.
3. Smoke can restore the ability to capture odors. Burn a sprig of wormwood, onion or garlic husks and inhale the smoke. Very soon, you will be able to enjoy foreign smells and tastes again.
4. Apply some eucalyptus oil or Star Balm to your chest or clothing so that menthol vapors constantly enter your nasal passages.
5. Melt a small amount of lamb fat and mix with the diluted mummy. Take a cotton swab and moisten it in the prepared composition. Lubricate the nasal mucosa with this agent - it is very effective against a runny nose and colds.
6. You can restore the ability to smell and taste by warming your feet. Prepare the following solution - in hot water (45-50 degrees) add a tablespoon of salt, the same amount of soda and two teaspoons of mustard. Dip your feet into the prepared composition up to the ankle. Leave your feet in the water for at least 10 minutes, then wipe your feet dry. Lubricate your feet with iodine and put on cotton socks and woolen socks on top. The procedure is usually done at night. In the morning you will forget about a cold and all the accompanying problems.
7. Propolis is a very useful product that can cure many diseases. You can prepare propolis tincture yourself or buy it at the pharmacy. Pieces of propolis must be poured with alcohol and kept in a dark cool place for at least a week, shaking occasionally. Soak cotton turundas in the prepared tincture and place them in the nasal passages for 10-15 minutes. Within a week, you can enjoy your favorite scents.

These simple rules will help you get rid of a cold quickly and safely.

After a runny nose is completely healed, smell and taste can recover within 7-10 days. If smells and tastes have not returned to your life after the specified time, there may be a more serious malfunction in the body. In this case, you need to contact a specialist. Take care of your health and do not run a runny nose, so as not to suffer from a dull and monotonous world.

Video: 3 reasons for loss of smell

When an adult does not smell and taste, he cannot live a fulfilling life and enjoy it. Such a violation is definitely a deviation from the norm. This white paper is for those who have lost their sense of smell. It is better to talk with your doctor about what the diagnosis is and what to do in such a situation. We only cover the causes and list common treatments.

Varieties and causes of loss of smell and taste

Types of odor disorders

Let us briefly describe the condition with different types of olfactory disorders:

• general anosmia - the sense of smell is completely absent, that is, a person inhales any aroma, and the nose does not smell;
• partial anosmia - a person picks up some odors, but some do not;
• specific anosmia - it is impossible to determine one or several odors;
• complete hyposmia - a general decrease in the susceptibility of all odors;
• partial hyposmia - the perception of some odors is reduced;
• dysosmia (also paraosmia and cacosmia) - smells are incorrectly recognized (pleasant ones are replaced by unpleasant ones) or non-existent aromas are felt;
• general hyperosmia - complete hypersensitivity to all odors;
• partial hyperosmia - hypersensitivity of certain aromas;
• agnosia - the sense of smell is present, but the person is not able to characterize the smells.

Decreased sense of smell is called hyposmia by doctors. If the sense of smell is lost, then we are talking about another disorder - anosmia. Both cases can be interpreted as acquired and congenital. Acquired impairment of smell perception is formed due to disorders in the nose or against the background of organic damage to the central nervous system, peripheral and central loss of smell, respectively.

Complete loss of smell of a congenital character is associated with an abnormal structure or impaired development respiratory tract, nose, face of the skull. A heightened sense of smell is denoted by the term hyperosmia, a distortion of the perception of odors - parosmia, and olfactory hallucinations can also occur. To understand why people lose their sense of smell, you need to familiarize yourself with the classification. In accordance with the reasons provoking peripheral anosmia, it is divided into types.

Forms of anosmia

Respiratory anosmia

Respiratory anosmia develops because odorless air passing through the nasal passages does not enter the peripheral compartment of the olfactory analyzer. This often happens with malignant and benign neoplasms in the nose, curvature of the nasal septum, polyps, adenoiditis, hypertorphia of the nasal concha.

Functional anosmia

Functional anosmia appears due to swelling of the tissues of the nose during allergic rhinitis and viral infections... Also, the disorder occurs as a concomitant deviation in hysteria and neurosis. When the cause is eliminated, the patient returns to a normal sense of smell.

Essential anosmia

Essential anosmia arises from toxic or tumor lesions, intense compression, trauma to the nasopharynx and nose, atrophy and hypotrophy of the olfactory epithelium, burns of the nasopharynx, inflammation focus. These factors inhibit the peripheral part of the olfactory analyzer.

Age-related anosmia

Age-related anosmia is the result of atrophic processes within the nasal mucosa. The mucous epithelium is damaged, nasal cavity turns out to be overdried and senile loss of smell sets in.

Unilateral anosmia

The development of unilateral anosmia or hyposmia is associated with damage to the olfactory bulb and other pathways. This disorder accompanies abscesses or tumors within the cranial fossa in front, while anosmia and hyposmia is observed only on the affected side.

Brain anosmia

When cerebral anosmia is localized in the olfactory cortical center, the sense of loss of odors is special. A person manages to determine that there is a scent coming from somewhere, but he is not able to characterize it.

In a huge number of cases of peripheral anosmia, together with the loss of smell, taste perception decreases or is distorted, we will talk about this below.

Diseases that take away the ability to smell

Dysfunction of smell associated with the central nervous system, that is, intracerebral anosmia, is most often a symptom, part or a consequence of one of the following pathologies:

• alzheimer's disease;
• chronic or acute circulatory disorders in the brain against the background of atherosclerotic or other processes;
• ethmoiditis - inflammatory process on the ethmoid sinus;
• cerebral neoplasms in the cranial fossa in front, for example, frontal glioma;
• meningioma;
• meningitis;
• disseminated encephalomyelitis;
• arachnoiditis - serous inflammation of the meninges;
• any head injury (traumatic brain injury);
• tumor processes within the cranial fossa;
• congenital pathology Kallman syndrome;
• nasal congestion with a runny nose of various etiologies;
• temporary loss of smell with ARVI, flu and colds;
• decreased sense of smell with sinusitis;
• thick runny nose with vasomotor or bacterial rhinitis;
• disorder of smell after drops (some vasoconstrictor nasal drops give side effects with prolonged use);
• polyneuropathy (a disorder in diabetes mellitus).

We have listed in which diseases the sense of smell disappears. If you are faced with such a symptom, it does not mean that you have all these disorders. The exact reason can only be named after the examination. A long course of drugs with neurotoxic effect, radiation therapy in the head area, inhalation of toxic chemicals that negatively affect cell renewal can negatively affect the sense of smell. The same can be said about operations in the field of neurosurgery. It should be added that, among other factors, the loss of taste and smell in some individuals is associated with smoking and old age.

Types of taste disorders

There are the following forms of impairment of taste perception:

• dysgeusia - misperception of tastes, for example, a feeling of bitterness upon contact with sour;
• general hypogeusia - the inability to perceive the tastes of any substances;
• beating form of hypogeusia - a violation of the taste of certain substances;
• general ageusia - inability to perceive basic tastes such as sour, sweet, salty and bitter;
• a specific form of ageusia - a decrease in the sensitivity of the taste characteristics of certain substances;
• selective ageusia - problems with recognizing only some shades of tastes.

Causes of disorders of taste

The provoking factors for problems with taste recognition are most often:

• partial or complete paralysis of the facial nerve;
• traumatic brain injury;
• colds;
• cancer in the mouth;
• geographic language;
• thrush in the mouth;
• sjogren's genetic disease;
• acute viral hepatitis;
• radiation therapy;
• thalamic syndrome;
• deficiency of zinc and vitamin B12;
• side effects of medications;
• the consequences of ear plastics.

People can lose the ability to distinguish between tastes due to oral injuries or long smoking history.

if you lose your sense of smell and taste, you must consult a doctor, and self-medication can be dangerous

What treatment helps bring back the sense of smell and taste?

General data on the restoration of the sense of smell

The first step in case of impaired functioning of the senses is a visit to the doctor. Only he will be able to determine how to treat the lost sense of smell. Common recovery methods are outlined below. It is not known when the sense of smell will return and whether it will come at all, but you still need to follow all the doctor's recommendations.

The best results in treatment can be expected with transport deviations in the sense of smell on the background:

• allergic rhinitis;
• bacterial rhinitis;
• sinusitis;
• polyps;
• organic damage to the nasal cavity;
• tumor processes.

People often regain the ability to pick up odors after:

• complete cure for allergies;
• general and local antibiotic therapy;
• use of corticosteroids;
• excision of polyps in the nose;
• correcting the septum of the nose;
• surgical treatment for chronic hyperplastic sinusitis.

Many patients ask doctors how to restore a long-lost sense of smell. The fact is that an early visit to the doctor increases the chances of successful treatment. And in case of neglect of diseases, the probability of a complete cure is much lower. It is for this reason that you need to immediately go to the hospital and look for provoking factors, if your ears are blocked, you do not feel the taste of products, periodically during the day or only in the evening, the sense of smell disappears. Perhaps these are symptoms of a developing latent disease.

Often, people complain of problems with the sense of smell and the organ of taste precisely when a runny nose is running. So, in order for the treatment of such to be successful, create suitable conditions in your home. Take a hot shower before bed. Maintain a humidity of 60-65% at home, measure it with a hygrometer and use humidifiers and ionizers if necessary. Ventilate the apartment or house more often, avoiding too hot microclimate. Drinking plenty of warm drinks such as chicken broth, herbal teas, and clear water will also help you recover faster.

We have named supportive measures, and medications are prescribed by a doctor. Next, let's talk about what are the directions of treatment in the absence of smell and taste.

Contrast baths

In the absence of smell or a predisposition to various diseases, complex treatment is prescribed. Contrast baths are believed to be beneficial for frequent colds, as they strengthen the immune system.

Inhalation

If your doctor associates the loss of smell and taste with a runny nose, then appropriate treatment will be prescribed. It is often recommended to connect also folk remedies... At home, it is easy to do inhalation, for which you will need:

• boiling water - 200 milliliters;
• lemon juice - 10 drops;
• lavender essential oil - 5 drops;
• tea tree essential oil - 5 drops;
• peppermint essential oil - 5 drops.

As soon as the fragrant solution is prepared, you can breathe in its vapors. We inhale each nostril alternately. The whole procedure takes 10 minutes or a little more. Full course - 10 inhalations.

Popular preparations for the nose

If the patient complains of a lack of smell, then the drugs are chosen only by the doctor, according to the diagnosis. If the problems are related to a runny nose, then the following medications can help:

• Reserpine;
• Naphtizin;
• Naphazoline.

With the correct use of these drugs, the blood vessels narrow, the sensitivity of the epithelial receptors returns. After the course, the condition is significantly alleviated in acute infectious processes and the runny nose disappears.

Oxolinic ointment is used to kill the viruses that most often provoke respiratory disorders. And also in this direction Arbidol works flawlessly.

The Aqualor spray and Bioparox aerosol also effectively fight against the common cold.

Be aware that antibiotic therapy can only be carried out under the supervision of a doctor when complex forms of the common cold, such as chronic, are troubling. If diagnosed bacterial rhinitis, then it is advisable to use antibiotic drugs:

• macrolides;
• penicillins;
• cephalosporins.

When an allergic reaction is the cause of the ailment, then a runny nose and other symptoms are treated with antihistamines, such as:

• Claritin;
• Suprastin;
• Zyrtec.

Rinsing the nose with a runny nose

To remove mucus from the nasal passages and effectively moisturize them, cook saline solutionconsisting of the following components:

• water - 1 glass;
• salt - 1 teaspoon.

You can also use saline, Aqualor, Aquamaris and their analogues. Washing is done as follows: we collect liquid with a syringe, bend over the sink and turn our head to the side. Smoothly pour the solution into one nostril, the stream passes through the nasal septum and flows out of the second nostril. Nasal lavage complements the treatment of various diseases of the nose and nasopharynx. It is advisable to do this safe procedure at home three times a day. Some experts recommend adding 2 drops of iodine to each rinse solution.

Folk recipe with propolis for the nose

To quickly restore the ability to capture tastes and smells, you can use a natural remedy, it is not difficult to prepare it, for this we take:

• propolis - 1 part;
• butter - 3 parts;
• vegetable oil - 3 parts.

Mix all the ingredients, soak cotton swabs with the resulting product and put in both nostrils. The exposure time is a quarter of an hour. This simple manipulation is done in the morning and at night.

How to treat taste disorders?

Let's list the most popular drugs that are used to restore taste perception:

• Hyposalix - moisturizes the oral cavity;
• Erythromycin is an antibiotic from the Macrolide class;
• Captopril - a drug for the treatment of hypertension and chronic heart failure;
• Methicillin - a drug for intramuscular administration;
• Ampicillin is a semi-synthetic antibiotic used against infectious
• diseases;
• Timalin - solution for intramuscular injection;
• Zincteral - a drug for saturating the body with zinc;
• Immunal is an immunostimulant drug.

Especially carefully you need to be treated during pregnancy so that the drugs do not adversely affect the child. Also, after childbirth, medications should be carefully chosen, since many substances penetrate into breast milk.

Impairment of smell and distortion of taste are serious symptoms that indicate malfunctioning of the body. Very often, with a timely visit to a doctor, a complete recovery from an illness occurs. Starting treatment early increases the chances of recovery and the return of normal sensory function. You shouldn't write on forums and look for magic tools on the Internet. In each case, the treatment will be different, depending on the underlying cause. If you suspect hearing impairment and / or taste impairment, contact a specialist and fully state your complaints.