Have you heard of smell therapy/training? ⁣
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This concept has been trialed and studied for years to help people regain their sense of smell. This therapy has become more popular over the last few months as we are seeing more and more cases of people struggling with their lose of smell, both short and long term. ⁣
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The goal of this therapy is to use a scent from four unique distinctive groups: floral, fruity, aromatic, and resinous to help stimulate the olfactory nerve and pathway to refire and retrain your sense of smell. ⁣
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If the term olfactory system is new to you, let me quickly explain. The olfactory system is responsible for our sense of smell. This sense, also known as olfaction, involves the detection and identification of molecules in the air. ⁣
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Olfaction is one of our most powerful senses. Our sense of smell can ignite memories as well as influence our mood and emotions due to the unique way the nerve travels directly through the memory center of the brain. Because of this unique pathway, essential oils have a 75% success rate for emotional and mental conditions or issues. ⁣
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“In one 2017 clinical trial, Patel and a team of researchers found that patients who "smell trained" with essential oils were twice as likely to improve their sense of smell than those who did not. This is because essential oils tend to have one distinct odor molecule.” ⁣
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The key is to smell while using your emotional memory thinking about what that smell used to smell like for you. ⁣
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"What's important is that you focus your memory specifically on what that smell used to smell like for you," she adds. "By focusing that way, you're actually trying to recreate a new synaptic pathway back from the olfactory epithelium that's in your nasal cavity at the top all the way back to the olfactory cortex.”*⁣
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Smell therapy regime indicates putting a few drops of one essential oil on a cotton ball or in a small smell jar. Hold it under the nose and inhale slowly through the nose for 15-20 seconds. Do this for all four essential oils two times a day for twelve weeks.⁣
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Fruit EO: Lemon ⁣
Floral: Rose Geranium⁣
Aromatic: Clove (or sub cinnamon)⁣
Resinous: Eucalyptus