Mayo Clinic Minute: Hope for COVID-19 patients who've lost their sense of taste, smell

Current estimates indicate that 20% of people with COVID-19 will experience some alteration of their sense of taste and smell.

The good news, over time, roughly 95% of those people can expect improvement in taste and smell in less than a year. And with help, the recovery of those senses can be sped up even more.

The nerves involved in taste and smell can heal and regrow. It's called "neuroplasticity." Olfactory retraining involves smelling specific substances to do that.

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