Covid: how long does the loss of taste and smell last?

A troubling but fairly common symptom during the Covid pandemic, loss of taste and/or smell has affected a large number of positive people over the different waves. If the effect lasted only a few days in some patients, others, on the other hand, experienced a persistent effect, sometimes beyond 6 months, without really knowing how to get out of it. The combined study of more than 18 observational studies of patients carried out by three distinct groups, with different methodologies, makes it possible to date to establish a somewhat more precise picture of this symptom, and its recovery time.

Only 5% experience a loss of more than 6 months

The data collected is rather reassuring. Of the patients who reported loss of smell:

• 75% of those affected regained their senses after one month;
• 86% after 2 months;
• 90% at 3 months;
• They are 96% to have regained their sense of smell at 6 months.

Among patients who reported loss of taste, the returns are close:

• 79% of those affected have regained taste at 1 month;
• 88% at 2 months;
• 90% at 3 months;
• 98% at 6 months.

Persistent smell and taste dysfunction at 6 months was reported in 5.6% and 4.4% of patients, respectively. This gives a percentage of persistent symptoms in about 5% of people affected by this phenomenon.

Among these results, the studies also showed that women were less likely to regain their sense of smell and taste than men. Patients with nasal congestion and more severe olfactory disturbances are also less likely to recover. However, two other studies from Brazil and Italy are more optimistic and suggest that smell and taste dysfunctions occur much less frequently with Omicron than with previous variants. And that the recovery can of course continue beyond 6 months.

Re-educating your senses, the next step

What to do, however, in the face of a persistent loss of smell? The question also arises since the onset of symptoms. The National ENT Society (SNORL) recommends that people noticing the onset of sudden anosmia first seek the advice of their doctor, in order to verify the cause. It also recommends that doctors not prescribe general or local corticosteroids in the case of coronavirus contamination.

On the other hand, an olfactory re-education is in order, which consists of training your sense of smell with the help of different everyday scents, such as your coffee, or even essential oils, on a regular basis. This should allow the olfactory system to pick up odors again, and above all to recreate an association in the brain.

An olfactory rehabilitation application has also been set up, based on the work of the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, the University Hospital of Tours and the European Association of Anosmics. She suggests following a protocol to stimulate “the olfactory sensors damaged by the coronavirus and thus regain sensations”.