Can Rhinoplasty affect your sense of smell?

A common question that patients ask is whether rhinoplasty can affect their sense of smell, and consequently, their sense of taste. The straightforward answer is both yes and no. In the short term, your sense of smell may be diminished because of swelling. But, in the long term, your sense of smell will return unchanged or may in fact improve if causes of airway obstruction were addressed during surgery.

Nasal swelling occurs in the weeks after surgery that blocks air flow passageways in the nasal cavity, inhibiting the ability to smell. As a result, your ability to taste will also be affected. The good thing is this reduction in sense of smell and taste is only temporary. Depending on the procedure, temporary loss of smell can last up to a month and rarely longer. Patients pursuing a procedure such as rhinoplasty need not factor in the possibility of losing their sense of smell completely. Permanent loss of smell is an exceptionally rare occurrence and almost unheard of in rhinoplasty. The only possible cause of permanent loss is from damaging the olfactory nerve that allows us to smell, or from causing excessive scarring within the nose that affects nasal airflow. This can be easily avoided by ensuring you receive the procedure by experienced facial cosmetic surgeons that provide the best nose jobs.

Hair cells in the nose are smell receptors that allow chemicals to enter the nose and dissolve in a membrane called the olfactory epithelium. Olfactory nerves, or smell receptors, are located about seven centimeters inside the nose form the nostrils at the very top of the nasal airway at the skull base. As you may already know, our sense of smell is very important to our sense of taste. When swelling from rhinoplasty decreases your ability to smell, your sense of taste may be temporarily impaired. As your nose heals, your ability to taste and smell will gradually return. In some cases when a patient repairs a deviated septum or enlarged turbinates, their ability to smell actually gets better as a result of rhinoplasty.

No one wants to spend the rest of their life without being able to wake up and smell the morning coffee. To achieve the best possible improvements in your nasal breathing and sense of smell, make sure you work with certified  surgeons. The surgeons at Beverly Hills Profiles have been performing successful rhinoplasty surgeries for many years with outstanding recovery time. At their office located in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, they are regarded as two of the best rhinoplasty surgeons practicing today. You can rest easy knowing our doctors will provide you with the best nose job with an easy recovery time, a beautiful and natural aesthetic result, functional improvements, and all of your senses intact.