You may think going nose-blind isn’t a real thing. Well, I’m here to tell you it’s genuine and is more common than you think!
Has someone ever complimented you on how you smell… but you can’t smell anything? This is because you have gone nose blind to your own scent. The actual names for this are olfactory fatigue or olfactory adaption.
It is a temporary and natural occurrence of the body that leads to an inability to detect or distinguish common scents in your surroundings. It’s often associated with areas where you spend a lot of time and fragrances you usually wear.
Let’s go into the science behind how this happens; when you inhale a scent, it binds to a receptor on a particular type of sensory nerve cell that detects scent. This nerve cell produces an electrical signal to the limbic system of your brain. This is where the decision on how you will perceive the scent is made, affecting how you will feel about it.
As you continue to stay in the presence of a smell, the repeated stimulation will eventually cause it to stop sending electrical signals to the brain. You then become nose blind. Your brain becomes used to the smell, and you gradually stop noticing that aroma.
You can’t prevent this from happening as it’s a natural adaptation your body goes through, but there are some ways you can help reduce this.
Take some time off your favourite perfume. I know that’s hard, but switch and change the fragrance you wear every day.
Exercise can actually reduce your risks of developing an impaired sense of smell as you age, but exercise increases the blood flow (including to your nose), which can help you pick up on scents.
Smelling coffee beans are meant to be a great way to clear your nose, ready for another scent. This is why some perfume shops will have these ready for you when you enter. However, a study from 2011 didn’t support this, so try it and let us know if it worked for you!