How long can you lose your taste and smell

After having coronavirus (COVID-19), you may still have a loss of, or change in, sense of smell or taste. It can take time for your sense of smell or taste to recover. You may find that foods smell or taste differently after having coronavirus. Food may taste bland, salty, sweet or metallic. These changes don't usually last long, but they can affect your appetite and how much you eat. For a very small number of people, your change of sense of smell or taste may be more long-term.

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What you can do to help
Non-urgent advice: Speak to your GP practice if:

What you can do to help

It's important not to compare yourself to others. Everyone's recovery is different.

You may only be able to smell or taste a little, or you may find certain smells or tastes unpleasant. You may experience a bad smell all the time – for example smelling smoke or petrol.

Do

learn about your condition from trustworthy sources
eat cool or room temperature foods
take small mouthfuls – don't give up too quickly as you may get used to the taste
try bland foods like rice, boiled potatoes and pasta
try flavours that appeal to you
keep trying things – what you like can change from week to week
keep your mouth clean and healthy by brushing your teeth morning and evening
rinse your mouth with water if it feels dry or uncomfortable
make sure you eat enough protein like beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins
try adding strong flavours or spices to help with taste – though don't add too much sugar or salt

Read about the recommended daily intake of sugar and salt

Smell training

Smell training means regularly smelling different things to relearn them. It can help some people get their sense of smell back. If you can smell the difference between 2 different things, smell training may help you. This includes if you can only smell a faint difference. The earlier you start smell training, the more it may be able to help.

Start with items you have at home like coffee, perfumes, citrus, or different types of essential oils. Learn to identify these with practice and then move on to a new scent.

Try smell training

Losing smell may have practical safety concerns – for example gas, smoke, out of date food and poor ventilation. If you don't have a sense of smell, it's important to be aware of these. You might want to:

visually check your cooker is off
make sure you have a working smoke alarm
check expiry dates on food

Read further information about loss of, or change in, sense of smell

Non-urgent advice: Speak to your GP practice if:

your symptoms are not improving
your symptoms are affecting your day to day life
you're worried about your symptoms
you also have other nasal symptoms like blocked nose
you're worried about possible long COVID symptoms in a child or young person under 18

Last updated:
09 March 2022

COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, can have a variety of symptoms. Often, the types of symptoms and their severity can vary from person to person.

In addition to respiratory symptoms like a cough and shortness of breath, COVID-19 can also have other types of symptoms. One of these is losing your sense of smell or taste.

Let’s take a closer look at the loss of smell and taste with COVID-19, how common it is, and how long these symptoms may last.

It’s not uncommon for upper respiratory infections such as the common cold or flu to affect our senses of smell and taste. In fact, it’s estimated that a temporary loss of smell happens in over 60 percent of colds and sinus infections.

Your sense of taste and sense of smell are closely linked. In fact, experiencing a loss of smell can greatly impact your sense of taste. It’s estimated that 95 percent of the time when there’s a loss of taste, it’s associated with a reduced sense of smell.

Loss of smell can occur suddenly in people with COVID-19 and is often accompanied by loss of taste. Also, with COVID-19, these symptoms may occur without a runny or stuffy nose.

It’s possible that a loss of smell or taste could be an early symptom of COVID-19. A recent review evaluated eight studies with a total of 11,054 COVID-19 patients. According to this review, a loss of smell and taste often happened prior to other COVID-19 symptoms.

In particular, a loss of smell may also be a potential indicator of a mild case of COVID-19. A study from earlier in the pandemic found that loss of smell was more closely associated with outpatient care as opposed to hospital admission.

It’s still unclear exactly how a loss of smell and taste happens with COVID-19, but there are some theories.

SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, binds to a protein called ACE2 that’s found on the surface of potential host cells. ACE2 is abundant on cells found in your nose and mouth.

It’s possible that the virus could directly invade the nerve cells associated with your senses of smell and taste. However, a recent study in the journal Science Advances has cast doubt on this idea.

Researchers failed to find ACE2 on nerve cells that detect scents. Instead, they found ACE2 on cells that surround and support these nerve cells. It’s possible that infection of these surrounding cells could lead to levels of inflammation or damage that impact your ability to smell.

Less research has been done on how COVID-19 specifically affects taste. Since loss of smell and loss of taste often occur together, it’s currently believed that people with COVID-19 likely experience loss of taste as a consequence of loss of smell.

The reported prevalence of a loss of smell and taste with COVID-19 varies greatly across studies.

A recent study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings took a deep dive into how common a loss of smell or taste is in COVID-19. Researchers reviewed results from 24 studies, which represented data from over 8,000 people with a confirmed case of COVID-19. They found the following:

The reported prevalence for loss of smell ranged from 3.2 percent to 98.3 percent. The average prevalence of loss of smell was calculated to be about 41 percent.
The reported prevalence for loss of taste was between 5.6 percent to 62.7 percent. The average prevalence for loss of taste was calculated to be about 38.2 percent.
Older age correlated with a lower prevalence of loss of smell or taste.
No difference in the prevalence of either symptom was seen in men versus women. However, other studies have found that loss of smell or taste tends to occur more frequently in women than in men.

Are you concerned that you may be losing your sense of smell or taste? If so, you can use common household items to test these senses.

If these symptoms developed suddenly, they could be an early indicator of COVID-19. If you’re concerned that you may have contracted the new coronavirus, you can seek out a testing site near you to confirm whether you have COVID-19.

Loss of smell or taste due to COVID-19 appears to last slightly longer compared to other upper respiratory infections. For example, loss of these senses due to a cold typically lasts for 3 to 7 days.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assessed the duration of symptoms in 274 adults that had mild COVID-19 symptoms. The median reported duration of loss of smell or taste was 8 days.

This is supported by a smaller study from Europe. In this study, loss of smell and taste were strongly associated with each other, lasting an average of 8.9 days. For 98 percent of people, these symptoms cleared up within 28 days.

In addition to COVID-19, there are many other factors that can cause you to lose your sense of smell or taste. These can include:

smoking
other upper respiratory infections, such as colds, the flu, or sinus infections
allergies
nasal polyps
a head injury
neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease
medications, such as some types of blood pressure medications, antibiotics, or antihistamines
hormonal changes due to conditions like hypothyroidism or Cushing’s syndrome
surgeries impacting the mouth, nose, or throat, such as sinus surgery or removal of wisdom teeth
radiation treatment for cancers in the head or neck
tumors in or around the head and neck
being exposed to some types of chemicals or solvents

A loss of smell or taste can happen with COVID-19. These symptoms often occur together, although they can they can also occur separately.

With COVID-19, a loss of taste or smell can come on suddenly and occur early, sometimes before other COVID-19 symptoms develop. Unlike other upper respiratory infections, a loss of smell or taste isn’t always associated with a runny or stuffy nose.

Most people who experience loss of smell or taste due to COVID-19 find that these symptoms resolve within a few weeks.

Although COVID-19 is mild most of the time, it can escalate to a serious illness. Seek emergency medical care if you have symptoms such as difficulty breathing, chest pain, or confusion.