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Why Losing Your Sense of Smell With Covid-19 Is So Traumatizing
Most people recover their sense of smell after Covid-19. But months on, some are still nose blind with distressing effects.
Eight weeks after giving birth to her daughter in late December, Kelly De-Gol displayed mild symptoms of Covid-19, accompanied by a complete loss of smell. Though she wasn’t officially tested at the time, as smell loss was a relatively unknown symptom, she later tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies.
Despite having recovered from all other symptoms in March, she still struggles months on to recognize her baby’s scent: The olfactory experiences that come with motherhood — from a newborn’s hair to the stench of vomit after feeding — have been mostly dulled.
“Cuddles were instantly less intimate. I didn’t know when she was dirty in her nappy as I was completely nose blind. This upset me on several occasions,” said De-Gol, 40, who lives in the U.K. “Every time I hold her, I sniff her hair as hard as I can, longing to smell her,” said the mother of five.
Anosmia, the technical term for smell loss, is now a recognized symptom associated with Covid-19, though by no means a diagnosis. A study found that almost 90% of those affected either recover or improve their…
