“There is no risk – except boredom,” said Dalton wryly.
Before you start, however, it is advisable to rule out other conditions that may be affecting your sense of smell.
“I saw someone recently who had olfactory dysfunction after Covid-19, and I discovered that he had inflammatory nasal polyps,” said Dr. Sunthosh K. Sivam, an ear, nose and throat specialist and assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston . After he removed the polyps, which had nothing to do with Covid, the patient’s sense of smell improved a lot.
“Watching an otorhinolaryngologist is a good way to ensure that nothing else is overlooked,” he added.
How do you choose your scents?
To begin, choose four scents that are familiar to you and that evoke strong memories, experts said. These are the fragrances you will use during the initial phase of your training. Perhaps one of them is a scented shampoo, a favorite cologne or lemons from your backyard tree. An avid home cook, for example, can use certain spices from his pantry.
Alternatively, “some people have been very successful with things that smell bad,” said Dalton.
At one point during her olfactory training, Ms. Rao, the restaurant critic, used spoiled milk. Mrs. Drager, who had Covid-19 over the summer, blows out a candle every day and tries to smell the smoke.
If that doesn’t seem appealing, you can choose to buy a scent kit that contains essential oils: the classic aromas are rose, eucalyptus, cloves and lemon. Kits usually cost less than $ 50.
Or you can buy these oils yourself at a place like Whole Foods. Ms. Kelly includes instructions on how to make your own flavor kit on the AbScent website.
If you buy your own oils and want to smell them directly from the open container, first ask someone who has no smell problems to try them. Then ask if the person can smell the fragrance easily when the perfume is a few inches below your nose. (Some containers have openings so small that it can be difficult to smell.) In the process, prevent oil from coming into contact with the skin because they are highly concentrated.