What to do if the olfactory and taste losses or alterations due to Covid-19 last? There are rehabilitation techniques to maintain the link between damaged olfactory neurons and cognitive functions. “Starting rehabilitation as quickly as possible is essential because it remains for the moment the only treatment that has proven its effectiveness in the management of post-viral anosmia”, underlines the High Authority for Health, which has posted a practical sheet for the management of prolonged symptoms.
In case of persistence for fifteen days, nose washes with physiological serum are recommended, associated with a rehabilitation that can be carried out at home, based on diluted spices and essential oils, to be smelled twice a day. If they persist beyond two months, it is recommended that the general practitioner refer to an ENT specialist, or even perform an MRI.
Association Anosmie.org also relays protocols on its site. Several specialist hospital ENT departments (in Paris, Nantes, Lyon, etc.) are continuing research to test the effectiveness of different variants. Yes “Training does not guarantee a total recovery of smell in 100% of people, it multiplies by two or three the chances, underlines Moustafa Bensafi, specialist in smell. The longer it is, the more effective it is ”.