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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Sudden Increased Sense Of Smell?

Hi. For a while now, I ve had a terrible sense of smell. So bad that I could barely smell food as I am cooking it. Now all of a sudden, I smell every thing. Oil hours after someone used the deep fryer, air fresheners that haven t been sprayed in hours, coffee from across the house, etc. What could cause my sudden sense of smell to be normal again?
Thu, 25 Sep 2014
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ENT Specialist,  's  Response
Hi. This may be possible if there would have been a mucus plug at the roof of the nose or some ethmoidal sinusitis or early ethmoidal polyposis which may have been precipitated by allergies or an infection. These conditions can block the air entering the olfactory zone located at the roof of the nose and reduce the sense of smell.

Since these can be seasonal many times and may depend widely on the environment or a sudden change in environment the sinusitis or the polyposis may have reduced or the mucus plug on the roof of the nose would have dislodged allowing air into the olfactory region bringing back the sense of smell.

I would recommend an ENT consultation to evaluate the sinus region.

Hope this information helps answering your query.
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What Causes Sudden Increased Sense Of Smell?

Hi. This may be possible if there would have been a mucus plug at the roof of the nose or some ethmoidal sinusitis or early ethmoidal polyposis which may have been precipitated by allergies or an infection. These conditions can block the air entering the olfactory zone located at the roof of the nose and reduce the sense of smell. Since these can be seasonal many times and may depend widely on the environment or a sudden change in environment the sinusitis or the polyposis may have reduced or the mucus plug on the roof of the nose would have dislodged allowing air into the olfactory region bringing back the sense of smell. I would recommend an ENT consultation to evaluate the sinus region. Hope this information helps answering your query.