What does loss of smell feel like with COVID-19?

With COVID-19, loss of smell may make familiar scents seem absent, faint, altered, or hard to recognise. You might not notice coffee, perfume, cooking, smoke, or soap in the usual way. Food can seem less enjoyable because much of flavour comes from smell, even when the tongue can still detect sweet, salty, sour, or bitter tastes.

Loss of Smell is a very common presentation of COVID-19. It can occur with a blocked or runny nose, but some people notice it even when they can breathe through their nose normally. A new smell change has other possible causes too, including a cold, allergies, sinus inflammation, nasal polyps, head injury, or some medicines. The symptom by itself cannot confirm what is causing it.

If the change is new and you may have been exposed to COVID-19 or have other symptoms, follow current local public-health advice about testing, reducing close contact, and protecting people who could become seriously unwell. Keep eating regular meals and use visual checks for food freshness rather than relying only on smell. Make sure smoke alarms work, and take extra care with gas, chemicals, and spoiled food while your sense of smell is reduced.

Seek urgent medical help for trouble breathing, persistent chest pain or pressure, new confusion, difficulty staying awake, or blue or grey lips or face. Arrange a medical assessment if smell loss follows a head injury, comes with severe facial pain or swelling, affects only one side with ongoing blockage or bleeding, or does not begin to improve after the illness has settled. A clinician can review your nose, medicines, and other symptoms to look for another cause.

Ask whether your pattern of symptoms needs testing or an examination, whether nasal congestion or medication could be contributing, and what warning signs should prompt urgent care. If the problem continues, ask whether smell training or referral to an ear, nose, and throat specialist is appropriate.