Olfactory training / long-term effects
The study “Long-term effects of olfactory training in patients with post-infectious olfaction (I. Konstantinidis, E. Tsakiropoulou, J. Constantinidis; DOI: 10.4193/Rhino15.264)” investigated the long-term effects of olfactory training in patients with complete or partial loss of smell in 111 patients as a result of infection.
The study concluded that short-term olfactory training leads to a lasting improvement in olfactory perception that is greater than the natural recovery of olfactory perception at the 56-week follow-up assessment. Long-term olfactory training further improved the development of olfactory ability during this period, with a first rapid recovery period of 16 weeks and a second slower period of 40 weeks. An extended training period (56 weeks) improved the sense of smell, but the degree of this improvement was significantly lower after the first 16 weeks of training.