Lost your sense of smell? Here is how ENT can help
- 5th May 2023
Losing your sense of smell can be intimidating and frustrating. This is not only going to affect your ability to smell food or other odor, but it also makes you more susceptible to danger, such as gas leaks or fires. If you have also lost your sense to smell, you should quickly seek help from an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) doctor as soon as possible.
Here’s how an ENT can help you regain your sense of smell
Your ENT will carry out a thorough analysis of your nose and sinuses to find out the root cause of your loss of smell. Common causes of such situations include sinus infections, nasal polyps, allergies, and head injuries. Once your best ENT doctor in Milton Keynes has the cause of the loss, they will provide a treatment plan that will help you regain your sense.
- If your loss of smelling sense is due to a sinus infection, your ENT may prescribe you some antibiotics or other medicines to eliminate the infection. They may sometimes advise you to use nasal saline sprays or rinses to clear your nasal passages and feel easy.
- If this loss of smell is by allergies, your ENT specialist may recommend allergy tests to identify the allergens that are triggering your symptoms. Once they locate your allergens, your ear nose and throat doctor may mention you getting allergy shots or other treatments to help you manage your allergies.
- If nasal polyps cause loss of smell, the ENT doctor may propose surgery to amputate the polyps. This can improve your sense of smell and make it easier for you to breathe.
- If this is caused by a head injury, ENT may ask you to get imaging tests to find the extent of the injury. Depending on the severity of the injury, they may recommend medications or surgery to help you recover.
In some cases, loss of smell is not treatable. However, you’re the experienced ENT specialist Northamptonshire can help you learn coping strategies to manage your symptoms and maintain your quality of life. This can also affect your social life, as it can be harder to detect these body odors or identify the scents used by loved ones. It also influences the ability to recognize smoke or gas leaks, which can be perilous. There are times when your ENT may recommend smell-training exercises to retrain your brain to recognize different smells. ENT doctor can help to identify the cause of symptoms and get a treatment plan to regain your sense of smell. When you are given the right care and treatment, you can get back to enjoying the smell of your favorite foods, and stay safe from bad odors.