What Causes Reduced Sense Of Smell In One Nostril?
Posted on Mon, 5 May 2014
105499
Question: Hello Doctor,
The sense of smell in my left nostril is very feeble, while the right one if functioning properly. This condition has been there for few years. Request your advice on how to improve the same.
hello and welcome to health care magic,
I am Dr Sriram Nathan an ENT surgeon and I can very well understand your problem having seen thousands of such patients over the years.
You need to first understand that our sense of smell is like our sense of hearing and if there is some block the sense reduces and also if there is any neural problem the same occurs just like in hearing.
furthermore! loss due to a physical block is called conductive which is very amenable to treatment but if the nerves are weak then it is called a neural loss which may not be very responsive to treatment.
In any case our first aim is to find the cause of loss and since it is unilateral it is likely to be conductive and very very treatable. You thus need to do these
- get a CT PNS plain
- get complete blood check up including serology and tox screening
- get a nasal endoscopy done as soon as possible
After getting the above done you must get back to me or any ENT with the reports. If there is a physical block leading to loss of smell then it is very amenable for treatment. You can also look up my website article on hyposmia which can be useful to you (www.entdoctorsriram.com)
In any case do steam inhalation and get back to me if you have any further doubts and I will be more than happy to help you out
regard
Dr Sriram Nathan
Thanks Doctor.
One more question, last december after an infection in my left year I developed tinnitus. I took tinnex for 6+ months followed by cyclospasmol for 3 months. I got relief from cyclospasmol however I still have the ringing noise in my year, though much lower than earlier.
I take vitamin tablets(A-Z Gold) 4-5 times in a week now. Is there anything I can do to completely cure the condition.
hello and welcome back!
Always glad to help and as far as your sound in the ear is concerned this is called tinnitus
These are some things you need to know
- take an audiometric assessment
- get a CT and MRI of the temporal bones
If the above comes as normal or just mild hearing loss then it's called essential tinnitus. for this you may consider these-
- I have a fair degree of success with a tablet called TINNICAR. Your doctor will know about this.
- try this for a couple of weeks and if you do not get any benefit then you must ask for the injection as infusion once a week which will definitely help
- try relaxation and meditation techniques also
- vitamin medications and a good diet will always help and never harm in any case
- if you ignore the sound it will become better and not bother you much
-a new technique called biofeedback is also effective. You can get more details about this online.
- if you have hearing loss in association then using tinnitus maskers will also help
Unfortunately a complete cure is rare in my experience of more than ten thousand cases of tinnitus but it will definitely get better
Hope this helps
regards
Dr Sriram Nathan
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What Causes Reduced Sense Of Smell In One Nostril?
hello and welcome to health care magic,
I am Dr Sriram Nathan an ENT surgeon and I can very well understand your problem having seen thousands of such patients over the years.
You need to first understand that our sense of smell is like our sense of hearing and if there is some block the sense reduces and also if there is any neural problem the same occurs just like in hearing.
furthermore! loss due to a physical block is called conductive which is very amenable to treatment but if the nerves are weak then it is called a neural loss which may not be very responsive to treatment.
In any case our first aim is to find the cause of loss and since it is unilateral it is likely to be conductive and very very treatable. You thus need to do these
- get a CT PNS plain
- get complete blood check up including serology and tox screening
- get a nasal endoscopy done as soon as possible
After getting the above done you must get back to me or any ENT with the reports. If there is a physical block leading to loss of smell then it is very amenable for treatment. You can also look up my website article on hyposmia which can be useful to you (www.entdoctorsriram.com)
In any case do steam inhalation and get back to me if you have any further doubts and I will be more than happy to help you out
regard
Dr Sriram Nathan