19 Jun Injection of Hope: Treatment for Post Covid-19 Loss of Smell
If you suffer from post COVID-19 loss of smell, there’s new treatment that could help. Losing your sense of smell can mean you miss out on experiences that many people can take for granted, such as the scent of perfumes, fresh flowers, or cooking. Food may taste different and bland. Without the ability to detect odors, you wouldn’t smell a gas leak, smoke from a fire, or sour milk. We may not realize just how much our sense of smell brings us enjoyment and connection in life, and even helps to keep us safe—until we no longer have it.
Taste and smell disorders send hundreds of thousands of Americans to the doctor each year. Loss of smell is one well-known symptom of COVID-19 infection—and can be a devastating, ongoing condition for some.
Anosmia—Loss of Smell
Anosmia is the medical term for loss of smell. Fortunately, for most people, anosmia is temporary, often caused by something such as a severely stuffy nose from a cold. However, there are large number of things that can cause loss of smell, some which can be quite serious—aside from COVID-19. Therefore, it’s wise to see a doctor if you lose your sense smell. Your doctor might refer you to an ear, nose and throat specialist for a diagnosis. Determining the cause of your loss of smell will help determine your potential treatment options.
Post COVID-19 loss of smell
Loss of smell with COVID-19 infection is a common and frequent early finding. Unfortunately, there are some patients that do not regain their complete sense of smell many months, or years, after the infection. Experiencing new, ongoing or returning symptoms and health problems is often referred to as long covid or post-COVID conditions.
In a 2022 survey conducted by Stanford Medicine, about 15% of people who experienced smell loss from COVID-19 continued to have problems six months later, That’s roughly 9 million people in the U.S., and the number is growing. Many who report loss of smell also report loss of taste because smell is such a major component of how we experience food.
This can really affect your enjoyment of life, particularly if your social and family life revolves around meals. It can also make it hard for you to be bothered to eat and drink. Smell is also closely connected to memory and emotion in a powerful way that impacts as humans. Unsurprisingly, it’s not uncommon that some people living with anosmia can feel depressed.
Nasal injections target COVID-19-related smell loss
Precise intranasal injections are a new way to treat ongoing COVID-19-related loss of smell, offering hope for patients struggling with this persistent problem. Recent research has demonstrated improvement in sense of smell with injections of platelet-rich plasma.
What is Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)?
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is derived from your own body; the process involves drawing a small amount of your own blood and processing via a centrifuge to produce a very pure and healing, concentrated form of plasma. It’s rich in platelets and, most importantly, growth factors — compounds known to help regenerate tissue. This plasma is then injected into the olfactory space where it can help stimulate the nerve fibers responsible for smell.
How it Works
COVID-19-related smell loss is a neurological problem, in which long-term effects of the virus prevent nerves deep in the nasal cavity from regenerating correctly. The highly concentrated healing properties of PRP are harnessed and directed with PRP injections to boost the process of regenerating the nerves. The treatment works to improve sense of smell by stimulating renewal and helping to restore proper function of the “smelling” nerves.
PRP Injections—actually not so new…
While PRP injections offer a new treatment approach to help improve COVID-19-related smell loss, treatments using PRP injections are actually not so new. The treatment method has been around for a while and established in a variety of other applications for other disorders. They’ve been demonstrated to be effective in treating a number of conditions. Platelet-rich plasma treatments have been used to treat mild arthritis when injected into joints, reduce wrinkles when used on the face, and even regrow hair when injected into the scalp.
At the Ohio Sinus Institute, we have utilized PRP injections in our practice for many years for various dysfunctional conditions of the nose and turbinates and also for early hair loss. We have many years of experience with this treatment method. Presently, this is not an insurance covered procedure for COVID-19-related smell loss.
Treatment at the Ohio Sinus Institute
The Ohio Sinus Institute is pleased to offer this option to patients who have maximized other therapy and have not received any benefit.
If you’ve been suffering from long-term, COVID-19-related loss of smell, contact our office for more information.
Get in touch with the Ohio Sinus Institute today!