When your senses of smell and taste diminish

Caption: Dr. Melanie Drummond, Speech Pathologist at Epworth HealthCare’s Olfactory Impairment Clinic, and patient Angela Jones join the conversation at ABC Radio studios in Melbourne to talk about the loss of smell and taste.

The five human senses - sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch.

We tend to take them for granted until they start to diminish, or worse, leave us altogether.

It’s highly likely that you know someone, if not yourself, who had their senses of smell and taste impacted by various strains of COVID-19.

For most, they returned in a few weeks. For others, it was months, years, or not at all.

It’s not just viruses that can impact your smell and taste. Known as Olfactory Impairment, it can also happen from:

• facial fractures
• facial surgery
• neurological conditions
• Parkinson's disease
• stroke
• traumatic brain injury.

This issue was highlighted recently by an enlightening session on ABC Radio Melbourne’s The Conversation Hour program.

Frontlined by Dr. Melanie Drummond, Speech Pathologist at the Epworth Olfactory Impairment Clinic, and patient Angela Jones, the conversation drew a large response from listeners to talk about the issue and relay their own lived experiences.

Dr Drummond said: “It’s not until you have lost some or all of your sense of smell and taste that you realise how important it is in everyday life.

“It’s also important to know you’re not alone and there’s help available if you need it.”

Epworth is the first rehabilitation facility within Australia to exclusively offer an Olfactory Impairment Clinic to assess and manage the loss of smell and associated changes in taste.

To learn more about the condition or contact the clinic. To listen to the ABC’s The Conversation Hour program on the topic.