Ruby E. Carlino

I was in my late 30’s when I realized one day that my eyes were not focusing properly when I was reading a book. I bought a pair of over-the-counter reading glasses which solved the problem for a while.

Later, I had to get prescription glasses. The experience was frustrating, but I accepted it as part of natural aging. I may have terrible eyesight but I could still hear as sharply as a bat. But I did take my senses for granted; I was healthy and had no reason to worry about anything other than my vision.

A couple of years ago, I was making tortilla soup and, as I was chopping up the cilantro, it suddenly occurred to me that I could not smell it. My first thought was: did I buy the wrong herb? What was that I just chopped up? After checking that it was indeed cilantro, I went on to smell some spices in the kitchen and discovered that I had totally lost my sense of smell.

I felt a sense of panic. What does one do when the sense of smell is gone? I tried to imagine eating my favorite Indian and Thai dishes and not being able to smell or taste them. What would it be like to live out the rest of my life without a sense of smell? I would lose all the memory triggers that come with the smell of rain, coffee, the sea, Christmas trees, fish, fall, my garden, and all that.

I would not be able to smell gas leaks and fire, spoiled food, or any other warnings of danger. In fact, a 2014 study found that people suffering from loss of smell are twice as likely to suffer from hazardous situations as people with a properly functioning sense of smell.

I’m not a hair-on-fire sort of person, so I finished cooking the soup. I then pondered my situation while I ate the soup. I could still taste it, but it tasted bland. It felt unbelievable that without any warning, I could smell food one day and smell nothing the very next day.

At that time, I was recovering from an infection but I was up and about and did not need medication. I soon discovered that my complete loss of smell was called anosmia. It also affected my sense of taste. My tastebuds were not working as they should, and the receptors in my nose and mouth were not sending the right messages to my brain.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, close to a quarter-million Americans see their doctor every year for smell or taste problems. There are about a dozen causes for these problems including brain injuries, tumors, dental problems, cancer and viral respiratory infections including the flu and COVID-19.

Apparently, more than 1 in 10 Americans may have a smell or taste disorder, but few seek help. With the pandemic, more than 8 in 10 people with COVID may briefly lose their sense of smell and their ability to taste. Researchers are still trying to determine how and why the virus affects smell and taste.

A quick online research revealed that smell training is the best method for improving the loss of smell. Harvard Medical School reported that smell retraining therapy is simply a matter of sniffing a wide variety of odor-generating elements. It suggested about six to 10 different types of scents, like lemons or oranges, flowery perfumes, peanut butter, eucalyptus, rosemary, cinnamon, pine, peppermint, or cloves. The suggested therapy was to smell each scent for 30 seconds to two minutes, once or twice a day, everyday for at least four weeks.

I had some lavender wands from the garden, so I used those, as well as oranges, and some fragrant Florentine bar soap. I dedicated myself to sniffing those items for 30 seconds, twice a day, everyday. While I was aware that I may not get my sense of smell back, doing the therapy every day made me feel less scared; I was doing something.

The first few days, I could not smell anything no matter how hard I squeezed the lavender wands. I think it was on the fourth day when I started smelling a hint of odor. And everyday, the smell seemed to increase in intensity.

Some days later, I woke up to one of the cats sniffing my face. I could smell Inspector Holmes’ breath. That day, I could also smell the full scent of lavender, oranges and soap.

It took about two weeks for my sense of smell to fully come back, and with it, my sense of taste. I’ve heard people say that we don’t know what we’ve got until we’ve lost it. I think the reality is we knew what we had, we just never thought we’d lose it.

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Ruby E. Carlino is a published writer with over a decade of blogging experience and a background as a technology analyst. She has lived in Sequim since 2018, after spending years in Asia, Central America, Europe, and the Washington, D.C. area. She can be reached at nextchaptercolumn@proton.me.