If you had to lose any of your five senses I would agree that your sense of smell is probably the best one to go. I lost mine when I was about three years old and so I never really had the awareness to appreciate it. Despite it being the 'best' one to miss, I can tell you now that you are already taking it for granted. We appreciate being able to see and being able to hear, without a second thought really being given to our sense of smell and indeed our sense of taste. I wanted to start this blog to raise awareness of being anosmic - not having a sense of smell. You can see and hear the world, but you can never really interact with it. It really is like living through a pane of glass.
It is estimated that 200,000 Britons are ansomic, with another 5,000 being born with the disability. This may sound like a lot to you, until you realise that there are only two doctors in the whole of Europe who are able to treat it; one here in the UK and one in Germany. This treatment has also only occured in the last year and already the only hospital in the UK is turning away patients. Going privately will cost £500 for the first consultation and even that has a 3 month waiting list.
For many people without anosmia they see it as either something unbelievable or a blessing. I have frequently been met with cries of "But surely you must be able to smell this?!" or told how lucky I am in cases of festival toilets. But your sense of smell is your strongest link to memory, relationships and food. Over 50% of people with anosmia suffer from depression. We are unable to form emotional links with important moments in our life simply because we are lacking the strongest subconscious relation to them. Primitive instinct dictates that the way a person smells to us plays a huge part in forming lasting intimate relationships, whether in a partner or close friends, again because of this emotional link. Our desire to eat comes from smelling food; as an anosmic I simply know it's time to eat when my stomach becomes a gnawing inner pain. I frequently drink more alcohol than my body can handle as I cannot smell how strong the drink is before it's too late.
In many cases, ansomics know more about their condition than many medical professionals. I've had blind smells tests, my inner nose examined with an endoscope, a CT scan and have tried many nasal sprays. After being told that there was nothing that could be done medically to retrieve my sense of smell I tried alternatives such as craniosacral therapy and accupuncture all to no avail. I have since also had surgery at the Spire Hospital Norwich, which has also proved unsuccessful.
More information on anosmia can be found on the Fifth Sense organisation here, with links to the BBC article on it here, which even if you read nothing else on this blog, please read that.
I appreciate that this post has been rather long and dull, but I plan to update this blog with more light hearted anecdotes about living an odourless life. I hope that you'll follow it and appreciate it and wish me luck in my journey to getting all five senses back!
It is estimated that 200,000 Britons are ansomic, with another 5,000 being born with the disability. This may sound like a lot to you, until you realise that there are only two doctors in the whole of Europe who are able to treat it; one here in the UK and one in Germany. This treatment has also only occured in the last year and already the only hospital in the UK is turning away patients. Going privately will cost £500 for the first consultation and even that has a 3 month waiting list.
For many people without anosmia they see it as either something unbelievable or a blessing. I have frequently been met with cries of "But surely you must be able to smell this?!" or told how lucky I am in cases of festival toilets. But your sense of smell is your strongest link to memory, relationships and food. Over 50% of people with anosmia suffer from depression. We are unable to form emotional links with important moments in our life simply because we are lacking the strongest subconscious relation to them. Primitive instinct dictates that the way a person smells to us plays a huge part in forming lasting intimate relationships, whether in a partner or close friends, again because of this emotional link. Our desire to eat comes from smelling food; as an anosmic I simply know it's time to eat when my stomach becomes a gnawing inner pain. I frequently drink more alcohol than my body can handle as I cannot smell how strong the drink is before it's too late.
In many cases, ansomics know more about their condition than many medical professionals. I've had blind smells tests, my inner nose examined with an endoscope, a CT scan and have tried many nasal sprays. After being told that there was nothing that could be done medically to retrieve my sense of smell I tried alternatives such as craniosacral therapy and accupuncture all to no avail. I have since also had surgery at the Spire Hospital Norwich, which has also proved unsuccessful.
More information on anosmia can be found on the Fifth Sense organisation here, with links to the BBC article on it here, which even if you read nothing else on this blog, please read that.
I appreciate that this post has been rather long and dull, but I plan to update this blog with more light hearted anecdotes about living an odourless life. I hope that you'll follow it and appreciate it and wish me luck in my journey to getting all five senses back!
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