Inhaling the oils can help those who have lost their sense of smell due to COVID-19

Loss of smell is one of the symptoms of COVID-19, not only in the short-term release of the disease. Some patients complain of problems with smell, even long after their recovery. Those who have never lost the ability to sense the world through smells for a while will not understand how discomforting it is.

However, the results of research by scientists from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU for short), published in the American Journal of Otolaryngology, give hope. Researchers prove that essential oils can help to restore the sense of smell after the disease. Especially if the patient is a person under the age of 40.

The team analyzed data collected from 798 recoveries who reported having problems with their sense of smell long after the disease had passed.

– In the case of 80 percent. of these people, the symptoms disappeared after six months on average – explains prof. Evan Reiter from the Smell and Taste Disorders Center at VCU. – However, among the remaining 20 percent. patients, it takes much longer to lose or dull the sense of smell. We are talking about the millions of people who suffer from it.

Reiter explains that people who have had problems with sinuses before or have suffered a head or nose injury must take into account a greater risk of losing their sense of smell for more than six months or even permanently.

But the scientist also has good news. Anyone with a COVID odor problem has theoretically a chance to return to their pre-disease state, he says. – In the vast majority of cases, the cause is an overload of the olfactory receptors and mucous membranes, and not nerve damage.

Therefore, prof. Reiter admits that he recommends his patients to inhale essential oils. – It is a cheap and safe method that really brings results – he emphasizes.

The authors of the studies claim that inhalation is indicated not only after COVID-19 has passed, but also during the course of the disease. This reduces the risk of loss of smell and accelerates the regeneration of receptors.

Even when damage occurs, the essential oils stimulate those parts of the organ, receptors and nerve cells, that are still active, to work, concludes Reiter.

–