Imagine for a couple of minutes that you do not smell. Life becomes completely uninteresting, flowers do not please, because their appearance without fragrance does not give the expected effect. The kitchen - and that without aromas becomes some kind of stranger. What is responsible for the sense of smell? The sense organ that enables a person to feel life with all its charms.
Nasal structure
A person smells thanks to his nose. Before you talk about smell, you should understand what this body is. After all, its cavity has a very important function - it cleans the air of dust and unnecessary particles. Understanding how this whole process takes place is possible only when the structure of the human nose is known. His anatomy is as follows:
- At the entrance are small hairs. It is they that are a kind of barrier preventing the ingress of foreign particles and dust.
- The goblet glands are also a kind of defenders of the human body, as they secrete mucus. It, in turn, is characterized by antiseptic properties, due to which the destruction of pathogenic bacteria occurs. In addition, mucus prevents the ingress of dry and cold air into the human body.
- The nasal cavity is four walls: lower, upper, medial, lateral.
- The area where a large number of blood vessels are located.
- Bone-cartilaginous septum. She divides the nasal cavity into two equal parts. Its curvature can lead to difficulty breathing.
We examined the structure of the human nose. The anatomy of this organ has its own characteristics. A lot depends on the correctness of its structure.
Summarizing all of the above, we conclude that the nose consists of two parts: the external section and the nasal cavity. This body performs the following functions:
- protective;
- resonant;
- olfactory and others.
A little bit about the sense of smell
Smell is a special feeling that allows you to respond to aromas. Odorous substances act on the upper part of the nasal mucosa, where the olfactory nerve is located. Simply put, the sense of smell can be called the ability to smell. Each person perceives them differently, which is why experts distinguish three groups of people:
- Macrosmatics - have a delicate sense of smell, sensitive to aromas. They can distinguish all existing shades of odors.
- Microsmatics - they need a little time to determine the saturation of the aroma. According to statistics, such people are most.
- Anosmatics are people who don't smell at all. Their number is small.
Description of the complex process
Recognizing odors is no easy task. And the opinion that we perceive aromas with the help of the nose is deceptive. This organ only helps us breathe. After this, air enters the olfactory epithelium. It contains neurosensory cells. They react very actively to the presence of smell and send an impulse to different parts of the brain: to the olfactory cortex, hypothalamus, hippocampus. Only after this does a person begin to recognize the smell, remember it and identify it. In addition, the hypothalamus can retain associative memory. It is thanks to her that smells often give rise to certain memories.
The sense of smell is the ability to memorize a large number of odors and classify them. Why is this happening? Scientists expressed the following opinion. The olfactory neurons contain a large amount (about a thousand) of receptor proteins. Each receptor has only one protein and is responsible for a specific smell. There are ten million olfactory neurons in humans, and each of them has a large number of receptors. So thanks to the olfactory system, we can recognize a huge number of odors, but separately.
Smell gone
Sometimes it happens that a 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. You must admit that the loss of smell, as well as the loss of taste, is not a very pleasant situation for a person. What is causing this problem?
- Swelling of the mucous membrane of the nasal septum. This occurs due to the presence of diseases such as acute respiratory viral infections, rhinitis, sinusitis, as well as with curvature of the septum, allergies, and the presence of nasal polyps.
- Violation of the secretion of the mucous membrane. At the same time, cilia, due to which smells are captured, are immersed in a secret.
- Impaired olfactory neuroepithelium. This happens when inhaling toxic substances, acute infections.
- Traumatic brain injuries.
- Tumors
- Taking neurotoxic drugs.
- Some congenital diseases.
- Neurosurgical intervention.
- Impaired receptor function.
- Underdevelopment of the olfactory pathways.
- Smoking.
- Age-related changes.
We return the sense of smell
If lost the ability to recognize odors, it should be returned. According to statistics, most often the lack of smell occurs due to colds,
curvature of the nasal septum, the presence of polyps. In a word, when a mechanical obstacle appeared that prevents you from enjoying aromas. Based on the reason, a decision should be made on how to return the sense of smell.
For diseases of the mucous membrane, doctors act as follows:
- Eliminate all the factors that caused the loss of smell.
- Individually prescribed medications.
- Physiotherapy is prescribed.
- If necessary, use surgical treatment.
Therapy and Nutrition
Not always when a problem occurs, a person seeks to see a doctor, in most cases he tries to find the answer to the question of how to restore his sense of smell. Most often, at home, treatment is successful if you have simple rhinitis.
With a cold, the mucous fluid accumulates gradually. But the appearance of mucus is also affected by nutrition. If your diet contains a large amount of starchy foods or heat-treated foods, your sense of smell may leave you. If this happens, the first thing to take care of is changing your diet. At the time of treatment, you can even switch to vegetarian food or simply refuse fatty meat. In addition, you will have to limit the use of milk and potatoes, as well as exclude from the diet confectionery and bakery products, all fatty and smoked, sugar.
Healing baths
In order to restore the sense of smell, it is necessary to adhere to a certain sequence in the treatment of:
- Soften the mucus. To do this, it is recommended to make a steam bath. It will also help cleanse the lungs and bronchi. Three procedures of 15-20 minutes will be enough. Remember that if you have dry skin, apply a cream on it before the procedure.
- For greater steam efficiency, add young dill, sage, mint or nettle to the water.
- Lean over the bath, cover your head with a towel. Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth.
- After a bath, take a shower, but do not wet your head.
- Mash the body. To do this, you can wave your arms and legs, make bends and rotations with your head, body.
Folk remedy to fix the problem
How to restore the sense of smell? You can resort to the advice of traditional medicine. The following remedies will perfectly help get rid of mucus:
- Take 150 grams of horseradish, grind it on a grater, add the juice of two or three lemons. You mix. Twice a day on an empty stomach, take one teaspoon.
- A mixture of drops in the nose is prepared as follows: take mint, snuff and eucalyptus. Put everything in a liter jar, pour olive oil (it should cover the mixture). Leave until mass is homogeneous. Drip twenty drops into each nostril in the morning and evening. Keep your head up for several minutes. The resulting mixture should be stored in a dark place.
Remove mucus from the nose
After liquefying the mucus, proceed to its elimination, this is another stage on the way to the return of smell. Prepare an aqueous solution. For these purposes, you can use salt, coniferous broth. For each nostril, you need half a liter of a healing agent. Rinse your nose thoroughly.
Now you know how to restore your sense of smell. This process is not very complicated, but rather lengthy. So be patient.
Let's talk about hyperosmia
A person can not only lose his sense of smell, but vice versa - acutely feel all the smells. Hyperosmia is an acute sense of smell. Most often it appears in the following cases:
- In pregnant women.
- In people who have mental illness.
- With multiple sclerosis.
- With migraines, brain tumors.
- With infectious diseases.
This condition manifests itself as follows: sick people feel smells much more intensively than healthy ones. Brain therapy is used to treat hyperosmia.
When smells are better perceived
You already know that smell is a feeling. Perhaps you are interested in whom it is more developed. It has long been believed that women have the best sense of smell. But more recently, scientists have come to the conclusion that representatives of the fair half of humanity better classify and recognize odors, while men perceive aromas as a signal for action.
Age also affects the sense of smell. Odor is best recognized by people during puberty. By the age of forty-five, this feeling begins to fade, and by the age of seventy many people no longer feel delicate aromas.
The weather also affects the sense of smell. In hot weather, smells are usually felt stronger.
Conclusion
Smell is a feeling that makes our life more beautiful and more fulfilled. It is given to people from birth and pleases them to a very old age. Thanks to him, mankind can enjoy every new day.