Smell Rehab. That's a Thing.

 

We’re all familiar with traditional forms of rehab:

Physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc.

Did you know that you can actually rehabilitate YOUR nose after losing your sense of smell? 

With all the talk about COVID-19 and loss of smell being a known symptom, I thought it might be good to talk about a treatment that can help if the loss of smell persists for more than a month.  

Olfactory training is very simple to do. Here are the steps:

A. Buy the following 4 essential oils: rose, eucalyptus, lemon, and clove.  

B. Do the following twice a day for 3 months:

1.  Smell one of the oils for 15 seconds, and even if you can’t smell anything, try to remember what it used to smell like.

2. Take a 10 second break. 

3. Repeat for each of the 3 smells.  

C. After 3 months, switch up your smells. Buy jasmine, tangerine, thyme, and menthol. 

D. After another 3 months, switch up again: gardenia, bergamot, green tea, and rosemary.  

The entire process takes about 3 minutes to do, but…

research has shown that olfactory training works better than ANY medication. 

Sadly, meds have very little research that show that they work.   

Okay, so if you don’t have any idea what bergamot is supposed to smell like, then try out an odor you could recognize, like cinnamon.  Speaking of, they really should have a “pizza” essential oil.  I love the smell of good pizza.  

If you have chronic loss of smell, make an appointment with me by calling (817) 261-3000.

 

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Daily Life, Nose, Highlighted PostsErin Shellenbergeraromatherapy, essential oils, natural, homeopathic