“I remember the realization that I had lost my sense of smell. It was December 2020, months into the global pandemic, and I was preparing scent blotter samples for a meeting I had coming up that week. I started reviewing the samples, and quickly noticed that they were missing the powerful pull I usually get from that first inhalation. Were they dried out? Had I forgotten to seal them? Then it hit me – I can’t smell!
What a strange sensation to feel one of my treasured senses taken from me. As the days went on and I experienced other symptoms, I noticed how colorless my world started to feel. I was deeply missing the romance and drama of just simply smelling what I was eating, let alone smelling for imagination. At the time, there was still a lot of unknowns about why this happens and how long it would take to recover, if at all, but luckily my sense of smell returned within a few weeks.
As someone with a career in the fragrance industry, who smells often, it was a big wake up call how important this sense was. Not to mention the pleasure it took out of everyday activities. A sensory world feels full when the senses can work together to inform a moment.” – Lara Baker, Global Head of Fragrance Creative at Air Aroma
Anosmia: Losing Sense of Smell
This phenomenon of losing one’s sense of smell is referred to as anosmia, which is the medical term for partial or complete loss of smell. It can be temporary from things like a sinus infection, or long lasting from neurological disorders. Loss of smell became a key symptom of Covid-19 that at first mystified scientists, and became a well-known marker of the infection. In fact, 77 percent of those who had Covid were estimated to have some form of smell loss as a result of their infections.
Later research discovered that structural cellular damage and intense local inflammation caused the loss of smell rather than permanent destruction of the nerve cells themselves, which is why most regain their sense of smell after the infection clears. Some aren’t so lucky, and further, anosmia affects people for a variety of other medical reasons like neurodegenerative diseases, aging, head trauma or injuries. While there’s no outright cure for anosmia, olfactory training has emerged as an effective tool to help rebuild and strengthen sense of smell where possible.
How to Practice Smell Training
Anyone can benefit from smell training in order to strengthen your sense of smell, but those who have suffered a temporary or partial loss will benefit the most from retraining your nose to smell effectively. Smelling different stimuli repeatedly should help promote regeneration of the olfactory receptors, and the brain rewire the cognitive pathways that allow for remembering and deciphering aromas. Here’s how smell training works, which anyone can do and start themselves:
1. Select 4 Scents
Choose four distinct scents that you will work with. These should be familiar to you and available. It’s not necessarily the odorant itself, but rather the practice and repetition of smelling the same thing have been proven to help and cause improvement, so household items like vanilla, coffee, bar soap, shampoo, or soy sauce would work. Otherwise, a common scent training set includes clove, eucalyptus, rose and lemon. These represent four distinct fragrance families (spice, herbal, floral and citrus). They have different scent characteristics that in time will help illustrate the differences, and your mind will also play a role in building the associations.
2. Smell Each Scent
Practice smelling each scent alone for at least 20 seconds at a time. It doesn’t have to be one long inhalation, but rather take short sniffs.
3. Make It Mindful
Apply mindfulness to your experience by focusing entirely on the scent that you’re smelling. See in your mind and imagine what it smells like, or pair the act of smelling with viewing a picture of the stimuli. Write down any associations and keep a notebook to keep track of your progress. Take note of how well you can detect the scent on a scale from 1-5.
4. Repeat
Practice your smell session twice a day, everyday, for a set period of time. The recommended time to really see improvement is at least 12 weeks, though you can always continue for longer. Repeat with the same scents and make it a habit.
Enhance Your Sense of Smell
Smell training works much like physical therapy. Repetition is powerful and the key that unlocks success. Stick to the structure and repeat. Make it enjoyable, or at least part of your routine, so that you get used to returning to the practice again and again. If you pay closer attention to what you’re smelling, you’ll be able to notice scents more strongly and faster than someone who doesn’t pay attention to smells – there is always room to enhance your sense of smell, and thus enhance your sensory understanding of the world around you and your part in it.
Looking to start your scent training journey? Explore our store for fragrance options, or get in touch with us for guidance.
