Thursday 10 December 2020

Scents And Sensibility

Like hundreds of other people, when I got covid-19 , I lost my sense of smell. And unlike most others, it did not return within a few weeks. There was a persistent weird in my nostrils.

 What seems like months ago, May I think, my friend Jenny said she had seen a "Sense of Smell" Retraining Kit advertised online at some exorbitant cost. I said I would hold on to my cash, and see if nature sorted it out for free.

Then an informative article in The Guardian on Saturday caused me to rethink things. I'd already become aware of grapefruit [handwash] and coconut [shampoo] - even if fresh bread and strong coffee still elude me. But this article spoke of two conditions - anosmia [complete loss of smell] and parosmia [a distorted sense of smell- often a sign of recovery] and pointed me to AbScent, a charity devoted to helping people with smell-loss. 

The idea is that you purchase a selection of 'essential scents' and every morning you sniff them. For twenty seconds you do a series of short sharp sniffs [known as 'bunny sniffs'] with the first perfume, then move on to the next. The kit contains four scents -  rose, eucalyptus, clove and lemon fragrances, in impregnated discs inside glass jars. Cost £30.

I checked out our health food shop who were waiting for deliveries, but had lemon and cloves as "essential oils". "But rose is the most expensive, £24 for a little bottle" they told me. The first evening, Bob and I did a 'wafting test' - I closed my eyes and he put a bottle under my nose. Yes - I could identify these two. Next day I went into the large Boots - and found eucalyptus - and that was on offer with tea tree and lavender.  So I got 5 bottles in total for round £20. 

This morning I did my bunny sniffing - using a kitchen timer, and taking each in turn. I followed the instructions - concentrating and being 'mindful' of each smell. I tried to focus on memories involving those perfumes - 

lavender, pruning the shrubs in the front garden at Cornerstones, and also making 35 lavender bags for a friend. 

lemon - meals eaten on holiday in Sicily, and also the legendary lemon meringue pies made in my childhood by my mother's friend Gwen.

cloves - Christmas baking, and Mum's apple pies

eucalyptus - I'm struggling a bit with this one, there has to be something beyond Hall's Cough Sweets - any ideas out there?

tea tree oil - this is the hardest one for me to smell, it seems vaguely antiseptic, and I keep thinking about hospital visits. 

But I shall persevere. The perfumed candle purchased for a Christmas present definitely smells of cinnamon for me now. When it arrived 3 weeks ago, I couldn't smell it at all  - but Bob was acutely aware if its perfume [and this is before it has been lit] I've also printed off the helpful self-assessment sheet, to keep a record of my progress.

I do think these conditions sound like bizarre party guests - "Please would you welcome Ann Osmia, and her esteemed father, Pa Osmia". There is light at the end of the tunnel [or at least, a smell at the end of my nostril] Will this fifth sense return to me completely? 

Nobody Nose!!

15 comments:

  1. I do hope your smell sense does return, it's useful when cooking!

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    1. Especially if you forget something
      and it burns [a frequent occurence for me I am afraid]

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  2. Love your final rejoinder! My smell isn't as good as it was (with a big nose, I can definitely smell things quickly usually) but I can definitely smell things. I'm glad you're managing to retrain your nose!

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  3. I hope it does return. Smells are so evocative and sorry I have no suggestions for eucalyptus either!

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  4. I can't detect certain scents and can't detect certain tastes. I do wish I was unable to detect the litter box smells, but, unfortunately, that is one of the scents I can detect!

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  5. Hi there, what about vick's vapour rub, olbas oil or deep heat if you have these at home? Hope your sense of smell returns fully. Tea tree oil reminds me of turpentine. Sajidah.

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    1. Brilliant suggestions, thank you - I just dashed to the bathroom and unearthed the Vicks - definitely picking up a camphorated/mentholated scent there.

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    2. Tea Tree oil is mostly made of organic chemicals called terpenes. And, surprise surprise, turpentine is also made mostly of terpenes, albeit from a slightly different tree. So your nose is an excellent chemist!

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  6. Good luck with all of this - it does sound as though you are on the way to recovery so I wish you the best.

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    1. It is very easy to do, so we will wait and see what happens

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  7. Many years ago my husband had a terrible bicycle crash that affected his eyesight. He had double vision for the best part of a year. The specialist said that nerve damage to the muscles of his eyes would either start to regenerate in 9 months or it would never get better. I am starting to believe it is a similar story with the Covid nose. Depending on the level of damage it will either return or not.It sounds like you are on the mend. I was going to suggest Vicks vapo rub, but someone beat me to it. Rose water might work and is cheaper than the oil.
    Barb

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    1. I've got some rosewater at the back of the kitchen cupboard - I shall have a sniff! Thank you for that suggestion

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  8. Apothecary's rose hold their scent for longest when dried. I have some still pungent nearly three years after picking. I make a rose elixir with William Shakespeare roses and equal parts of honey and brandy. It holds the scent of the rose beautiful and is useful as a rescue remedy in dropperful doses. Both these are much cheaper than rose essential oil and now is the season for bare rooted roses to be purchased. When I was learning how to write "guided visualisations/meditations" there is a short exercise which uses the scent of lemons or new mown hay/just cut grass because if you can get someone to bring those scents to mind it helps to ground them within the journey. (I learned the hard way not to use mown hay with hay fever sufferers!). My abiding memory of eucalyptus scents is waiting to go into a small theatre in California. We stood under eucalyptus trees and the scent always takes me back to that magical moment in 1975. I hope your sense of smell soon returns.

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    1. Thank you for all this information, especially about the roses. It is amazing how scents can bring back special memories.

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