Do you have an unpleasant and strange smell from your nose and this issue worries you?
Do you want to know what causes a strange nose odor?
We recommend that you read more. By reading the following article, you will be able to find the answers to the above questions and other similar questions.
In the following, we are going to talk more about the bad and strange smell of the nose
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Introduction
It often happens that you notice a bad odor in your nose, and most of the time this odor change seems strange and transient, but sometimes it can be a clinical manifestation of underlying causes, such as sinus disorders and Nasal congestion can affect the sense of smell and create a strange odor in your nose. In this article, we want to acquaint you with the causes as well as the ways to get rid of bad and strange nose odors.
Unpleasant odor in the nose
These days we are facing Covid 19 all over the world
Interestingly, about 47% of people infected with the early types of the new Corona virus had changes in their sense of smell and subsequent taste.
What is used in medical terms to justify olfactory disturbance or a strange sensation in the sense of smell is a term called Parosmia. In fact, paroxysm occurs when the brain is unable to properly identify and perceive the true smell and perceives and smells that odor as a strange odor.
People with paroxysms or olfactory disorders, or so-called olfactory misinterpretations, often perceive odors as strange odors such as the smell of burns, the smell of feces, the smell of rot, and the bad smell of chemicals.
In the following, we want to talk more about Parasomia or olfactory disorder or olfactory misinterpretation or apoptosis.
So if you are a person who smells strange, we recommend that you join us
It is better to get acquainted with two other terms. It is called hypoxemia and it is called loss of sense of smell or complete loss of smell or Odorless of anosmia.
What is Parosmia?
It is a term used to describe a group of our olfactory health problems. In fact, a person with Parosmia has a distorted sense of the normal smells of the environment that is unrealistic and strange.
These people feel strange in their sense of smell. They may also have a decrease in olfactory intensity, meaning that the affected person cannot feel and perceive the full range of environmental odors. Sometimes this Parosmia makes the things that a person normally deals with and encounters in everyday life seem unpleasant.
In addition to the Parosmia we talked about above, there is another olfactory disorder called phanthosemia. It is a disorder in which a person perceives an olfactory hallucination in the absence of a real stimulus where there is no odor. I must say that Parosmia is different from phantosemia.
That is, a person with Parosmia has an odor in the environment and this odor is received through the person’s nose, but the sensation and perception that the brain perceives of this inhaled odor is abnormally strange and often unpleasant.
It is sometimes said that the smell in the nose of people with Parosmia is mistaken. People who have Parosmia or so-called strange odors may have a runny nose when exposed to the pleasant smell of fresh bread; Instead of the sweet and savory smell of fresh bread, feel the strong smell and the smell of rot.
People with Parosmia can have many underlying causes for their condition. In most cases, parasomnia can cause a person to become very physically nauseous and unpleasant due to the perception and sensation of very strong, unpleasant and unpleasant odors.
What are the symptoms of Parosmia?
We often have to say that Parosmia is experienced when a person recovers from a previous infection. We need to know that the severity of the symptoms and manifestations of Parosmia can be completely different from person to person. A person with this disorder constantly feels a bad odor as the main symptom, and This odor becomes stronger and stronger especially when the food is around the person.
A person may also have many problems in perceiving, recognizing and paying attention to odors in the environment. In general, we must say that damage to nerve cells can cause a person to have this misconception.
A person with Parosmia, the smells of which used to be very pleasant, now feel too annoying, unpleasant and even unbearable. If a person with this disorder eats food that smells bad, they may experience nausea and vomiting while eating.
What causes Parosmia?
We said that Parosmia is a disorder in which a person perceives even the pleasant smells in the environment as very strong and wrong and unpleasant. This disorder usually occurs after nerve cells that affect the perception, sensation, detection, and differentiation of odors are damaged by a viral infection or an accident or other disorder and lose their normal function.
There are nerve cells and neurons that line the nose. These cells tell the brain how to interpret the signals received from a chemical. Damage to the cells we have described can completely change the way odors reach the brain, as well as the perception of odors by the brain.
- Brain traumas
Traumatic blows to the skull and head injuries can be associated with damage to the olfactory interpretation center. While the duration and severity of the injury will depend entirely on the type of injury, many studies have shown that Parosmia is common after a trauma to the skull. People who have seizures may also develop Parosmia due to recurrent brain trauma.
- Infections
Viral or bacterial infections are among the causes that can damage the olfactory neurons. In other words, for many people, damage to the olfactory neurons occurs following a simple viral cold, the flu, and other viral respiratory illnesses. Infections that affect the upper respiratory tract, from the entrance to our nose to our throat and trachea, have the potential to damage the nerve cells responsible for transmitting or interpreting odors.
The elderly are the main group at risk. Studies conducted about 17 years ago show that only 40% of people with a history of viral infections of the upper respiratory tract develop Parosmia after recovering from these infections.
Forty-seven percent of people with novice have had olfactory problems, and approximately 50 percent of them have Parosmia due to olfactory changes.
- Cigarette smoking and exposure to respiratory chemicals
The olfactory system is made up of nerve cells that may be severely damaged by smoking. Also, if you inhale toxins and chemicals frequently, over time the olfactory perception center in your brain may be damaged and you may develop Parosmia.
For this reason, people who live in factory environments where there are toxic chemicals in the air and in environments with high levels of air pollution are more likely to have a strange sensation in their nose than other people.
- Cancer treatments
Radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which are prescribed by doctors to treat cancers, can also cause olfactory disturbances in the brain and lead to Parosmia. Reputable studies have shown that people who experience malnutrition and weight loss following cancer treatments may be more likely to associate this loss of appetite and food aversion with Parosmia.
- Neurological problems
Sometimes some diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, can be the first manifestation of decreased dynamism, dementia, as well as Huntington’s disease can cause disturbances in perception and sense of smell.
- Tumors
Malignant masses on the sinuses in the frontal cortex of the brain, or tumors inside the sinus cavities, can cause changes in a person’s sense of smell.
Researchers say that it is very rare for Parosmia to develop as a result of a tumor in a person. The dynamic change that is often a side effect of tumors of the nervous system and sinuses is phantosemia.
Diagnosis
A person who feels strange and often unpleasant odors in the nose should definitely see a doctor. Usually, after taking a history, doctor will be asked about strokes, recent illnesses, recent infections, a history of personal illness, and a family history of illness.
The doctor tries to expose the infected person to different substances and asks the person to inhale the smell of these substances and describe it to the doctor. The doctor rates the quality and accuracy of the patient’s senses and perceptions according to standard protocols and instructions.
A common test for diagnosing parosmia includes a small questionnaire that The affected person should answer them in the presence of a doctor and under his supervision. When the doctor visits a patient with parosmia, he must have asked the following questions to the infected person. These questions include:
- Family history of cancers
- Family history of neurological disorders
- Any infection or inflammation that a person has recently had
- History and list of drugs used by the person
- Lifestyle habits like smoking
If your doctor suspects that you may have a disorder of the nervous system of the brain and skull, or that a neurological condition has caused these symptoms, based on your history and examinations, you should seek diagnostic tests, such as a CT scan or MRI and even use a biopsy.
Treatment
People with this disorder can get rid of the disorder in some cases if a person’s parosmia is the result of environmental factors, the drug seeks treatment for cancer and smoking, the person’s sense of smell will most likely return to normal after exposure to the underlying factors.
Sometimes you may need surgery to get rid of the strange odor inside your nose. When there are nasal obstructions, such as a massive tumor or polyp, they must be removed to return your sense of smell to normal. Sometimes supportive treatments for Parosmia include the following:
Use of antibiotics in the presence of upper respiratory tract infections, the most common of which are sinus infections
Use of vitamin A and zinc as a nutritional supplement
Also, sometimes to get rid of the annoyance with unpleasant odors that you feel, it is recommended to use a nose clip to prevent odors from entering your nose.
Regarding the effect of zinc and vitamin A on the cure of Parosmia and its acceleration, we must say that there are studies that say that the mentioned cases were more effective than placebo, but these studies were not very large and the number of people under study was small.
There is also another case that many people use to improve Parosmia and speed up their recovery, a term called olfactory gymnastics ,Every morning, the sufferer encounters four different scents from four different scent groups, and tries and trains to train their brain to categorize them correctly.
You must consult your doctor to choose the right treatment.
Recovery
Parosmia is often not considered a permanent disorder. The cells of the nervous system and light can only repair themselves over time, so your annoying symptoms will go away.
Studies show that 60% of people who develop Parosmia following an infection will recover within a few years after the problem.
Determining a specific time and interval for recovery from this disorder is a bit difficult because the time required for recovery depends entirely on the context.
If you have symptoms of Parosmia following a cold and a viral infection of your upper respiratory tract, you will probably recover spontaneously without treatment. But sometimes this recovery takes an average of 2 to 3 years.
Concluding remarks
If you are someone who has a strange odor in your nose, you probably have Parosmia. The disorder usually stems from an infection or a brain trauma. When parosemia develops following the use of drugs such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy and inhalation of toxic and chemical substances or smoking, the disorder usually improves with the removal of the causative agent.
Sinus polyps and, rarely, brain tumors may present in their early stages with Parosmia.
Gender and age of the affected person as well as the degree of olfactory power of the person at the beginning of the disorder are effective in the long-term prognosis of the person.