What is phantosmia? Thanks for asking!

The symptoms and after-effects of Covid-19 vary hugely between people and can be very incapacitating. We’ve already discussed anosmia, the loss of the sense of smell, in a past episode. But some people also report strange and unpleasant odours, that no-one else around can smell. The medical term for these olfactory hallucinations is phantosmia, coming from the Greek “phanto” for ghost and “osmia” for smell. That’s right, hallucinations aren’t always visual!

Does that mean I could mistake one smell for another? Can phantosmia be linked to conditions other than Covid-19? And is it treatable? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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