A change in your sense of smell can be unpleasant and affect how things taste. But it isn't usually serious and may get better in a few weeks or months.
Causes of lost or changed sense of smell
Changes in sense of smell are most often caused by:
- a cold or flu
- sinusitis (sinus infection)
- an allergy, like hay fever
- growths in your nose (nasal polyps)
These can cause:
- loss of smell (anosmia)
- smelling things that aren't there (phantosmia), like smoke or burnt toast
- reduced sense of smell (hyposmia)
- the smell of things to change (parosmia)
It's also common to lose some of your sense of smell as you get older.
Cleaning inside your nose can help
Rinsing the inside of your nose with a salt water solution may help if your sense of smell is affected by an infection or allergy.
You can make a salt water solution at home.
How to clean your nose with a salt water solution
Some pharmacies sell sachets you can use to make a salt water solution and devices to help you rinse your nose.
Non-urgent advice: See a GP if your sense of smell doesn't go back to normal in a few weeks
They'll check for any obvious causes, such as sinusitis or nasal polyps.
They may refer you to a specialist for tests if they're not sure what the problem is.
Treatment for lost or changed sense of smell
Your sense of smell may go back to normal in a few weeks or months.
Treating the cause might help. For example, steroid nasal sprays or drops might help if you have sinusitis or nasal polyps.
A treatment called smell training can also help some people. To find out more about smell training, see:
Sometimes changes in sense of smell can't be treated and may be permanent.
Important
If you have lost your sense of smell, you may not be able to smell things like gas leaks, fires and food that's gone off.
Fifth Sense has some safety advice if you have anosmia.
Page last reviewed: 27 November 2017
Next review due: 27 November 2020