Everyone knows that with covid, two out of three patients may lose their sense of smell. People immediately began to test their scent, but not everyone understands how to do it correctly. Many are wrong. Some even get offended. I'll explain now.
In the spring, at the height of the epidemic, several standard tests were specially adapted for this case, which help to sort everything out on the shelves.
Simple test
It's boring and no one likes it because it takes motivation and patience.
You need to choose something smelly and familiar, and then sniff and check every day.
If the sense of smell is preserved, then every time you will smell the same standard smell.
I tested on lemon tree leaves. He pinched off a piece and sniffed.
You can take any household chemicals with a characteristic fruity smell.
Offensive test with gummy or toothpaste
Some people argue that the scent is long gone. To check this, they do a gummy test:
- You need to pinch your nose with two fingers.
- Then take a fruit-flavored candy, put on your tongue and chew.
- Then unclench your fingers on your nose.
- If after unclenching the fingers, a taste appears, then the scent is preserved. Because it was not a taste, but a scent.
The fact is that about 80 - 90% of what we call taste is actually a smell. Individual fragrance molecules with a weak air flow penetrate from the mouth into the back of the nose.
Therefore, by the way, traditionally it is not dentists who deal with taste disorders, but otolaryngologists.
If you don't have candy, use a mint-flavored toothpaste. Almost everyone has this.
The most offensive test. With bleach
The person says that he is fine with his nose, because he smells bleach or ammonia from household chemicals.
But that doesn't mean anything. Because we feel ammonia and chlorine not with the olfactory nerve, but with the trigeminal nerve. That is, chlorine and ammonia can be smelled even without a nose.
Have you checked yourself already?
