While the loss of smell may not seem like an emergency, it can certainly be distressing if one day your aging loved one has noticed she can no longer smell anything. The official term for loss of smell is anosmia and it can occur suddenly or gradually, with familiar smells becoming fainter and fainter. Having someone like a companion care at home team visit routinely to help notice if there are any smells around the home to be dealt with can help your loved one manage without the ability to smell well.
Temporary loss of smell can happen to anyone, but long-term loss of smell is most common in the elderly. And while the loss of smell usually isn’t a life-threatening condition, it can reduce the many pleasures of life such as smelling the food her companion care at home team is cooking, enjoying the scent of fresh flowers brought placed in a vase from her companion care at home provider, and taking a deep breath of salty sea air while on vacation. Losing this sense can also have harmful consequences as those who lose their sense of smell cannot smell smoke in a home that may be on fire, smell meat that has gone bad, or notice the rotten egg smell of a natural gas leak.
There are many reasons why your loved one may have lost her sense of smell. It can be a very common condition when an individual develops a condition that affects their sinuses. But it can also result from trauma.
Here are the most common reasons a person may lose their sense of smell.
- Being stuffed up from a cold
- A bad case of influenza
- Having a sinus infection
- Suffering from allergies, such as hay fever
- Getting COVID-19
- A plugged-up nose
- A deviated septum
- Finally, nasal polyps
Within recent years and the pandemic surrounding COVID-19, the loss of smell is often one of the first indicators that someone has COVID-19 if they are not displaying any other symptoms. It can also be one of the longer-lasting symptoms of COVID-19. For that reason, if your loved one suddenly develops a loss of smell, with or without other symptoms, a COVID-19 test should be taken right away to determine if that is the cause.
Other causes for the loss of smell can be linked to more serious conditions. While many of these conditions don’t always cause a loss of smell, they could be the underlying reason for it, especially if your loved one is not battling a cold or other similar condition listed above.
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Sjogren’s syndrome
- Parkinson’s disease
- Kallmann’s syndrome
- Traumatic brain injury
- Brain tumors
Certain medications can also cause your loved one to lose her sense of smell as well as a lifetime of smoking.
Usually, once the cause of the loss of smell is determined and then treated either with antibiotics, surgery, or medication, then your loved one’s sense of smell will return. But it’s often unsure of how long that will take. The return of the ability to smell may take longer than simply getting better from a cold and it may come about gradually.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Companion Care at Home Services in Newark CA, please contact the caring staff at Alondra Home Care today. Call (855)-767-1110.
Providing Exceptional Home Care Services in the Fremont CA and Alameda County area for over 5 years.
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