Parosmia:
Some people may experience parosmia as a symptom of COVID-19.
- Parosmia is a medical term used to describe a condition in which affected individuals experience “distortions of the sense of smell”.
- A person with parosmia can detect certain odours, but they might experience the smell of certain things as different and often unpleasant.
- For instance, to someone with parosmia, coffee may smell like burnt toast.
- Parosmia is a temporary condition and is not harmful.
- This abnormality is typically experienced by those people who are recovering their sense of smell following loss from a virus or an injury.
- Some common triggers of parosmia include roasted, toasted, or grilled foods, coffee, onions, chocolate, garlic, and eggs.
- It is likely that parosmia manifests itself due to the damage caused to the olfactory neurons when “the delicate and complex structure in the nose is attacked by a virus.
