Your sense of taste and smell help you enjoy every bite of your favorite Proximo meal. When food tastes or smells bland, it’s natural to worry. These symptoms are often temporary, but it’s best to know what’s behind it. Let’s take a look at how taste and smell work, a couple of possible reasons behind anosmia and what you can do about them.
How Do Smell and Taste Work?
Your nose has receptor cells in the nasal mucus membrane. When molecules from the air attach to the cells and send messages to the brain, you understand them as scent.
Your sense of taste works similarly. When you eat something, the food activates receptors on the tongue, the roof of your mouth or the back of your throat. The receptors tell your brain if the thing you’re eating is sweet, salty, sour, bitter or savory.
What Causes Smell and Taste To Fade?
When something clogs your sense of smell, it can cause foods and drinks to taste bland. A few possible ENT causes that can physically block your sense of smell include:
- Sinusitis. Sinusitis is an inflammation of the tissues lining your sinuses.
- Nasal polyps. Nasal polyps are benign, tear-shaped growths in the nasal cavity. They’re not usually an issue, but our specialists can remove them if they grow large enough to cause symptoms.
- Deviated nasal septum. Your septum is a thin wall of cartilage dividing your nasal cavity. A significant deviation of the septum can restrict airflow and disrupt your sense of smell.
- Upper respiratory infections. Common colds, flu or other viral infections can cause temporary swelling and mucus buildup that impair the sense of smell.
- Allergic rhinitis. Chronic nasal inflammation due to allergies can cause congestion and swelling that blocks the sense of smell.
A few conditions that may affect the way your smell receptors work include Alzheimer’s disease, brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, high blood pressure and Parkinson’s disease. In rare cases (only about 1,000 people in the U.S.), you can be born without a sense of smell.
What Are My Treatment Options?
If an ENT-related blockage is dampening your sense of smell and taste, the first step is to make an appointment with Ear, Nose & Throat Associates. We can identify the underlying cause and find the right path forward, whether allergy medication, polyp removal, a septoplasty to fix your deviated septum or another option.