What is a phantosmia?
Phantosmia is the medical word doctors use when a person smells something that is not actually there. The smells vary from person to person but are usually unpleasant, such as burnt toast, metallic, or chemical smells.
Phantosmia may develop due to diseases of the brain or nervous system (e.g., migraine, stroke, schizophrenia), or sinusitis.
In a large percentage of clinical cases, a person has difficulty expressing exactly what the odor is bothering or it is quite possible that the odor has not been felt before and can not be related to anything.
Of course, the phantom significantly reduces the quality of life of a person and, unfortunately, leaves a negative impact on health - because of the unpleasant odor, the patient is quite likely to lose appetite, thus losing weight.
The course of treatment is individual and depends on the underlying cause.
In some clinical cases the phantosmia is not dangerous and heals on its own, although sometimes it is a manifestation of some pathological process; That is why in order to avoid any possible complications, it is recommended to consult a doctor as soon as the symptoms appear - the disease is much more effectively managed against the background of timely diagnosis.
