The good news: The epithelium, which lines your nasal cavity, have cells that can divide and regenerate those damaged nerves, Dr. (Important to note: COVID-19 does not make you physically lose taste buds!) Your sense of smell is closely connected with your ability to taste, he adds, hence the loss of smell and taste. “Although these receptors have not been found on the nerves themselves, the surrounding damage from the infection likely causes the smell loss.” “The receptors for the virus have been found in the special lining of the nasal cavity that contains the olfactory-smell-nerves that are the first to detect odors in the air,” explains anosmia researcher Eric Holbrook, M.D., director of rhinology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and associate professor in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Viruses can cause inflammation and swelling in your nasal passages and that can cause congestion, tamping down your senses in the process.īut why this symptom lingers in some people is not totally clear. This is a common side effect of viruses that replicate in your nose and throat, says Richard Watkins, M.D., infectious disease physician and professor of medicine at the Northeast Ohio Medical University. First, why do some people lose their senses of taste and smell after COVID-19? So, what’s the deal? Can this type of food challenge really help bring back a lost sense of smell and taste? We asked doctors for their opinion. Meanwhile, another TikTok user said it “didn’t work” for her, and even former Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe mentioned trying it on her Instagram Stories. She did point out, though, that it could have been a coincidence. In one video, a TikTok user called this a “Jamaican remedy” before she eats the mixture and then says, “I waited two weeks for this.”Īnother TikTok user said she was able to taste Dijon mustard after eating a burnt orange. Social media is filled with testimonials from people who swear eating a charred orange mixed with brown sugar helped them regain their sense of taste and smell after having COVID-19. The researchers also found that 15% hadn’t recovered their sense of taste and smell 60 days after infection, while nearly 5% were in the same situation six months later.Įnter the burnt orange hack. Now, a January 2021 study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine has found that nearly 86% of 2,581 COVID-19 patients studied experienced a loss of taste and smell from the novel coronavirus. Loss of smell and taste (medically known as anosmia and dysgeusia, respectively) wasn’t one of the original COVID-19 symptoms referenced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last spring, but it was eventually added to the agency’s official list after a growing body of research found that many people who contracted the coronavirus experienced the unusual symptom. Doctors aren’t convinced this trick works, but say people can try scent training if they are struggling with loss of smell and taste.A viral social media hack suggests eating a burnt orange mixed with brown sugar can help people revive their senses.Research shows that lost senses of smell and taste can be a lingering side effect for COVID-19 patients.