When the Loss of Smell Lingers: Olfactory Training for Post-COVID-19 Infection

COVID-19 has disrupted people’s ability to smell for days or months. While anosmia has been well-documented throughout the pandemic, researchers still aren’t sure why it occurs. Even less is known about the long-term effects on children who have not regained their sense of smell months after recovering from COVID-19. Because pediatric patients are less likely to articulate to a provider or to their parents that they cannot smell or taste normally, this phenomenon is believed to be vastly underreported in children.

Listen to pediatric experts discuss COVID-19-related anosmia

In this episode, we talk with Kenny Chan, MD, about the existing supportive evidence for olfactory training following COVID-19, and a new research study being launched at Children’s Colorado to help learn more about these patients.

Dr. Chan is the now-retired Chair of Pediatric Otolaryngology at Children’s Hospital Colorado and former Professor of Otolaryngology and Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

In this episode, our experts discuss:

• Smell and taste dysfunction as diagnostic criteria for COVID-19
• Pathophysiology of how COVID-19 may cause olfactory dysfunction
• Prevalence estimates of COVID-related olfactory dysfunction in children
• Olfactory training using essential oils to promote recovery
• Standardized tests for measuring olfactory dysfunction in children
• Development and study of an olfactory training program at Children’s Colorado
• Role of imaging in diagnosing children with olfactory dysfunction
• Underrated importance of the olfactory system

Resources for providers:

• JAMA: Olfactory Dysfunction in COVID-19: Diagnosis and Management