Scent Therapy

A fine-tuned sense of smell can pay off with major mind and body benefits. Scientists have simple tips to help you regain (or boost) your sniffing instincts.

- Krista Bennett DeMaio

One morning, Courtney Dunlop, 41, of Springfield, Missouri, was massaging on a face cream she thought was unscented when she detected the aroma of roses. How could an unscented product suddenly have a fragrance, she wondered. It ain't magic, but neuroscience: Dunlop's sense of smell had finally made a full recovery, one and a half years after she was infected with the COVID-19 virus.

Loss of smell, or anosmia, was one of the pandemic's most widely discussed symptoms, but it's not exclusive to COVID. "There are actually hundreds of reasons someone can lose their sense of smell," says Zara Patel, MD, an associate professor of otolaryngology at Stanford Medicine. And a handful of them are revving up this time of year: the flu, rhinoviruses, sinusitis (congested, inflamed nasal passages), and pregnancy rhinitis (nasal inflammation during pregnancy). Other causes include endocrine and metabolic issues such as hormonal changes, head trauma, certain medications, and the aging process.

Dunlop initially lost her sense of smell for six weeks, then gained it back gradually-until 18 months later, when she could finally stop and smell the roses in her face cream. "Thankfully, I like that smell," she jokes. This process can take a matter of weeks or several months, regardless of the cause. And in 20 to 30 percent of all cases of anosmia, there is lasting olfactory dysfunction: a complete loss, reduced function (hyposmia), or a change in how scent is perceived (parosmia).

To help someone get their sense of smell back (or speed up the process), experts turn to smell retraining, a practice that stimulates your olfactory system. We sniffed out the science behind this therapy to find how it may help you, even if you've never lost your sense of smell.

THE SCIENCE OF SCENT