The sense of smell is ... Lack of smell. Acute sense of smell

Imagine for a couple of minutes that you do not smell. Life becomes completely uninteresting, flowers are not pleasing, because their appearance without fragrance does not give the expected effect. The kitchen - and that without fragrances becomes somebody else's. What is responsible for the sense of smell? The organ of the senses, which enables a person to feel life with all its delights.

The structure of the nose

The person smells through the nose. Before you talk about smelling, you should understand what the body is. After all, its cavity performs a very important function - it cleans the air of dust and unnecessary particles. To understand how the whole process takes place, it is possible only when the structure of the nose of a person is known. His anatomy is this:

• At the entrance there are small hairs. They are the kind of barrier preventing the ingress of foreign particles and dust.
• Goblet glands are also original protectors of the human body, since they secrete mucus. It, in turn, is characterized by antiseptic properties, due to which destruction of pathogenic bacteria occurs. In addition, mucus prevents the ingress of dry and cold air into the human body.
• The nasal cavity is the four walls: the lower, upper, medial, lateral.
• Zone where there are a large number of blood vessels.
• Bone-cartilaginous septum. It divides the nasal cavity into two equal parts. Its curvature can lead to difficulty breathing.

We examined the structure of the nose of a man. The anatomy of this organ has its own characteristics. Many things depend on the correctness of its structure.

Summarizing all of the above, we conclude that the nose consists of two parts: the outer part and the nasal cavity. This body performs the following functions:

• Protective;
• Resonant;
• Olfactory and others.

A little about smell

Smelling is a special feeling that allows you to react to aromas. Odoriferous substances act on the upper part of the nasal mucosa, where the olfactory nerve is located . To put it more simply, the smell can be called the ability to smell. Each person perceives them in different ways, that's why specialists distinguish three groups of people:

• Macromatics - have a subtle sense of smell, sensitive to aromas. They can distinguish all existing shades of odors.
• Microsmatics - it will take a little time to determine the saturation of the fragrance. According to statistics, such people are the most.
• Anomatics are people who do not smell at all. Their number is small.

Description of the complex process

To recognize smells is not an easy task. And that opinion, that we perceive aromas with the help of a nose, is deceptive. This body only helps us to breathe. After that, air enters the olfactory epithelium. There are sensor cells on it. They react very actively to the presence of smell and send an impulse to different parts of the brain: the olfactory cortex, the hypothalamus, the hippocampus. Only after this, a person begins to realize the smell, remember it and identify it. In addition, the hypothalamus can store associative memory. It is thanks to her smells often give rise to certain memories.

Smelling is the ability to memorize a large number of smells and classify them. Why is this happening? The scientists expressed the following opinion. Olfactory neurons contain a large number (about one thousand) of receptor proteins. Each receptor has only one protein and is responsible for a specific odor. Olfactory neurons in humans are ten million, and each of them has a large number of receptors. So thanks to the olfactory system, we can recognize a huge amount of odors, but separately.

The sense of smell is gone

Sometimes it happens that the person's sense of smell disappears or worsens. Why is this happening? Most often this is due to damage to the nasal mucosa or intracranial processes. Agree that the loss of smell, as well as loss of taste, is not a very pleasant situation for a person. What is the cause of this problem?

• Swelling of the nasal septum mucosa. This is due to the presence of diseases such as ARVI, rhinitis, sinusitis, as well as in the curvature of the septum, allergies, the presence of nasal polyps.
• Disturbance of mucosal secretion. In this case, the cilia, thanks to which the smells are caught, are buried in a secret.
• Violation of the olfactory neuroepithelium. This occurs by inhalation of toxic substances, acute infections.
• Craniocerebral injury.
• Tumors.
• Admission of neurotoxic drugs.
• Some congenital diseases.
• Neurosurgical intervention.
• Violation of the functioning of receptors.
• Underdevelopment of olfactory ways.
• Smoking.
• Age changes.

We return the sense of smell

If the ability to recognize smells is lost, it should be returned. According to statistical data, most often the absence of smell occurs due to colds, curvature of the nasal septum, the presence of polyps. In a word, when there was a mechanical obstacle, which does not allow to enjoy fragrances. On the basis of the reason, it is necessary to make a decision on how to restore the sense of smell.

In diseases of the mucous membrane, doctors act as follows:

• Eliminate all the factors that caused the loss of smell.
• On an individual basis prescribe medications.
• Assign fizioprotsedury.
• If necessary, surgical treatment is used.

Therapy and nutrition

Not always when a problem arises a person seeks to go to the doctor, in most cases he tries to find the answer to the question on how to restore the sense of smell. Most often at home, treatment is successful if you have a simple rhinitis.

With a cold, the mucous fluid accumulates gradually. But the appearance of mucus has an effect and nutrition. If your diet contains a large amount of starchy foods or food that has been heat-treated, your sense of smell may leave you. If this happens, then the first thing to take care of is changing the diet. At the time of treatment, you can go even to vegetarian food or just give up fatty meat. In addition, you will have to limit the consumption of milk and potatoes, as well as exclude from the dietary confectionery and bakery products, all fatty and smoked, sugar.

Therapeutic baths

In order to restore the sense of smell, you must adhere to a certain sequence in the treatment:

• Soften the mucus. To do this, it is recommended to make a steam bath. It will also help clear the lungs and bronchi. Three procedures for 15-20 minutes will be enough. Remember that if you have dry facial skin, apply a cream on the face before applying it.
• For greater efficiency, steam should be added to the water with fresh dill, sage, mint or nettle.
• Lean over the tub, cover your head with a towel. You inhale with your nose, exhale through your mouth.
• After the bath you take a shower, but do not wet your head.
• Slice the body. To do this, you can wave your arms and legs, make slopes and rotate your head, body.

People's remedy for fixing the problem

How to restore the sense of smell? You can resort to the advice of traditional medicine. Perfectly help to get rid of mucus the following means:

• Take 150 grams of horseradish, chop it on a grater, add the juice of two or three lemons. You mix. Twice a day, on an empty stomach, take one teaspoonful.
• A mixture of drops in the nose is prepared as follows: take mint, snuff and eucalyptus. All add up in a liter jar, pour olive oil (it should cover the mixture). Leave until the mass becomes homogeneous. Drip twenty drops into each nostril in the morning and evening. Hold your head up for several minutes. The resulting mixture should be stored in a dark place.

Remove mucus from the nose

After liquefaction of the mucus, proceed to its elimination, this is another stage on the way to the return of the sense of smell. Prepare the aqueous solution. For these purposes, you can use salt, coniferous broth. On each nostril you will need half a liter of healing. Rinse the nose thoroughly.

Now you know how to regain your sense of smell. This process is not very complicated, but rather long. So be patient.

Let's talk about hyperosmia

A person can not only lose his sense of smell, but vice versa - it is acute to feel all the smells. Hyperosmia is a sharpened sense of smell. Most often it appears in the following cases:

• Pregnant women.
• People who have mental illness.
• With multiple sclerosis.
• With migraines, brain tumors.
• With infectious diseases.

This state is as follows: sick people smell much more intensively than healthy people. For the treatment of hyperosmia, general restorative therapy is used.

When smells are better perceived

You already know that smell is a feeling. Probably, you are interested in whom it is developed more strongly. For a long time it is believed that the best sense of smell is developed in women. But more recently, scientists came to the conclusion that representatives of the beautiful half of humanity are better classified and recognize smells, but men perceive fragrances as a signal to action.

Age also affects the sense of smell. It is best to recognize the smells of people during puberty. By forty-five years, this feeling begins to fade, and by the age of seventy many do not feel the subtle scents.

Weather also affects the sense of smell. In the heat, smells are usually felt stronger.

Conclusion

Smelling is a feeling that makes our life beautiful and more saturated. It is given to people from the very beginning and pleases them to a very old age. Thanks to him, mankind can enjoy every new day.