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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes An Altered Sense Of Smell?

I smell what I would call an electrical smell all of the time. This has been going on for 5 days. I am now starting to have a headache too. Don t know if they are connected. I have not started taking any new medicine or drops, so can t figure it out. The smell stays with me wherever I go.
Wed, 28 Nov 2018
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Dentist 's  Response
Hi,

It looks like phantosmia or phantom smell. It leads to strange smell through the nose that others cannot experience.

It can occur due to a number of conditions like nasal infection and polyps, migraines, oral and dental infection, smoking habit, condition related to the nervous system like Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, head injury etc. I suggest you consult a medicine specialist and get evaluated.

Along with that, clinical evaluation investigations like nasal endoscopy, MRI, CT Scan etc as per the suspected cause can help in the diagnosis and treatment and can be planned accordingly.

As of now you can do saline nasal irrigation, steam inhalation with few drops of eucalyptus oil in water, chew flavored sugar free chewing gum and limit intake of high aroma foods like onion and garlic.

Hope I have answered your query. Please let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr. Honey Arora, Dentist
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What Causes An Altered Sense Of Smell?

Hi, It looks like phantosmia or phantom smell. It leads to strange smell through the nose that others cannot experience. It can occur due to a number of conditions like nasal infection and polyps, migraines, oral and dental infection, smoking habit, condition related to the nervous system like Parkinson s disease, Alzheimer s disease, stroke, head injury etc. I suggest you consult a medicine specialist and get evaluated. Along with that, clinical evaluation investigations like nasal endoscopy, MRI, CT Scan etc as per the suspected cause can help in the diagnosis and treatment and can be planned accordingly. As of now you can do saline nasal irrigation, steam inhalation with few drops of eucalyptus oil in water, chew flavored sugar free chewing gum and limit intake of high aroma foods like onion and garlic. Hope I have answered your query. Please let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. Honey Arora, Dentist