It’s been nearly a year since Natalia Cano, 20, got COVID-19, but she’s still suffering from parosmia, a condition that distorts your senses so that smells and tastes you once enjoyed become offensive: water tastes like chemicals, coffee smells like sewage, etc. Cano is far from alone in this experience.  

How Does COVID Cause Parosmia?

Parosmia results from damaged olfactory nerves, changing how “smell” stimuli travel to the brain. COVID-19 is just one of the various possible causes of this condition. Parosmia has been linked to:

• Other types of viruses
• Seizures
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

The association of parosmia with COVID-19 is natural; however, since altered smell and taste are extremely common in COVID patients. Approximately 50-75% lose their senses of smell (anosmia), and an estimated 15-20% find it distorted, as with parosmia. 

Parosmia May Serve a Purpose

“We think [parosmia] happens as part of the recovery process to injure one’s sense of smell,” explains Ahmad Sedaghat, director of the University of Cincinnati Division of Rhinology, Allergy, and Anterior Skull Base Surgery. Some “miswiring” can occur, he says, as cells and nerves regenerate. 

Sedaghat also suspects that parosmia could be a protective development since the unpleasant taste it causes may prevent people from eating, drinking, or being around substances that might endanger them. Fortunately, most COVID patients regain their senses of smell and taste within four weeks, though some can take longer, and others don’t regain them at all. 

Is There a Treatment for Parosmia?

Only a few studies have been conducted on parosmia and COVID to date. Smell training–which involves sniffing specific common fragrances, such as lemon and lavender every day for several months, sometimes accompanied by pictures or visualization–has been recommended for people who have lost their sense of smell. Sedaghat suggests that people with parosmia do the same, and encourages patients to use scents and tastes that they would normally enjoy, such as coffee or a favorite tea or dessert.

Patients with parosmia might also benefit from connecting with a mental health professional, says Abigail Hardin, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Rush Medical College in Chicago. “Those kinds of fundamental changes in how your body is functioning for you can be really disruptive ― functionally, emotionally, socially and in terms of vocation,” she says, adding that mental health professionals who focus on patients with hearing loss or chronic pain may be particularly helpful. 

Despite parosmia’s challenges, both Sedaghat and Hardin say that patients they’ve worked with seem comforted by at least having a name and explanation for what’s happening to them. They’re also relieved to know that, while distressing, parosmia is a sign that their brain and body are working toward recovery, says Sedaghaat. “It tells us regeneration is happening.” 

Much about the novel coronavirus, i.e., COVID-19, is still not fully understood. As research progresses and our knowledge of the virus increases, information can change rapidly. We strive to update all of our articles as quickly as possible, but there may occasionally be some lag between scientific developments and our revisions. 

*Pearson, C. (2021, Dec. 14). The Long Covid Condition That Makes Everything Taste Or Smell Rotten. The Huffington Post UK.  https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/parosmia-long-covid-condition-smell-taste_uk_61b79da3e4b00aca716a6fad