Olfactory and gustatory training in the treatment of olfactory disorders

Introduction:

It is already known that the olfactory training leads to improvement of the olfactory function in patients with hyposmia. Do to the fact that olfaction is associated with gustatory sense, we thought about using this relation in a form of an olfactory and gustatory training to improve the sense of smell.

Patients and method:

We tested 38 of our patients with olfactory dysfunction due to different etiology between January and October 2017 (28 female, 10 male).

We investigated patients using the Taste Strip Test (TST) and Sniffing sticks (TDI score). They were all asked to use the Taste strips (Burghart company) for a daily gustatory training. After 6 weeks and 6 months we followed up with the patients.

Results:

Our study showed a significant improvement of the olfactory function on the 6 weeks follow up according to the subjective survey VAS and TDI score.

On the other side elderly patients and female patients showed a greater benefit due to the training.

Conclusion:

We strongly recommend a multicentric study in order to prove the efficacy and utility of prescribing the combination of olfactory and gustatory training for patients with olfactory dysfunction.

Publikationsverlauf

Publikationsdatum:
18. April 2018 (online)