Sense of Smell:During the pandemic, losing your sense of smell was recognized as one of the main signs of COVID. Now, almost four years later, one out of every five people in the UK has trouble smelling things normally, and one out of twenty can’t smell anything at all. Smell training is a way experts suggest to help people regain their sense of smell. It’s simple: you sniff different scents, like essential oils or herbs, every day.
Our sense of smell can heal over time because the nerves responsible for smelling can grow back. Think of it like doing exercises to help your muscles get stronger after an injury. By regularly exposing yourself to smells, you can help your sense of smell recover after being sick or having another problem that made you lose it, like a head injury.
In labs, smell training has shown to work, but in real life, it might not always be as effective. One reason is that it takes a long time. Some people might not notice any improvement for months, and some might not benefit at all. In one study, many people stopped smell training after a few months because they didn’t feel like it was helping them.
Cross-Modal Associations
Researchers are now looking into ways to make smell training better. One interesting idea is using information from our other senses to help us smell better. This idea is called “cross-modal associations.” It means that things we see, hear, or touch can affect how we smell. For example, bright lights might make us think something smells stronger, or smooth shapes might make us think something smells nicer. Recent studies show that our sense of smell is influenced by what we see, hear, and touch, not just by the smells themselves. Things like colors, shapes, and sounds can affect how we perceive smells, including how strong they are and whether we like them or not.