Most of us take our sense of smell for granted, but there are a lot of people out there who struggle to recognise certain smells. In fact, one out of every two hundred people experience some form of smell loss in their lifetime. But fear not, the sense of smell can be retrained—and your sense of smell can be regained.
What is anosmia?
Anosmia (sometimes referred to as smell blindness) is used to describe the temporary or permanent loss of the ability to detect smells. For many of us that have experienced temporary anosmia during a cold or hay fever, the effect can be irritating, but for the thousands of people who experience smell blindness more long term the effects can be profound.
Ten things you may experience if you lose your sense of smell:
What causes anosmia?
Many of us will have experienced short-term anosmia during an illness such as a cold or flu, but for many this is a more prolonged.
Some causes of Anosmia include
How to Regain your Sense of Smell with Squish Therapy Dough?
At the University of Dresden in 2009, Professor Thomas Hummel set up a study to investigate the possibility that people who had lost their sense of smell could ‘train’ to regain some sensation.
His study group included people who’d loss their sense of smell after a head injury, after respiratory tract infection and sufferers who had no known cause for their problem. After 12 weeks, 30% of the group reported some improvement, no matter what the cause of their anosmia.
Since then, the evidence of the power of smell training has been building for over a decade. A recent analysis of all the published studies on smell training to date concludes that we know smell training is effective for many people and remains effective long after the smell training stops.
Anosmia sufferers who have tried the smell-training technique have reported that they began to detect other scents in the environment, other than just the oils used in the training.
How to Smell Train
You should think of smell training as physiotherapy for your nose. Just like physiotherapy, frequency and consistency are key to achieving results.
Smell training is actively sniffing the same scents every day, spending around 20 seconds on each scent and really concentrating on what you’re doing.
If you are looking for an innovative smell training kit then our Squish Therapy Dough Smell Training Kit is a great way to get started. Last year we collaborated with AbScent to create a Smell Training Kit that combines scent with the added stimulation of touch and colour to liven up your training.
Once you have your kit it is helpful to make a note of how your smell is before you begin. You can compare your level of smell and experiences today and after a couple of months of smell training. Many people who have used smell training have notices the ability to detect scents in the world around them even if the smells in their Smell Training Kit are still muted.
So, there you have it! You now know why it occurs and how Squish Therapy Dough can help regain your sense of smell. I hope this article has been helpful for you in understanding how you can retrain your sense of smell.
If you liked this post, please share it with your friends and family! You can find lots of information on Anosmia and how to regain your sense of smell here .If you would like to purchase one of our Smell Training Kits, you can purchase them here.
How to Regain Your Sense of Smell with Squish Therapy Dough | Squish Therapy Dough 2022
]]>We all get stressed, its comes part and parcel with modern life. But left untreated that stress can start to have a more damaging effect on your mental health.
In this post I wanted to explain how adding something as simple as aromatherapy playdough to your daily routine can help break the cycle of stress and anxiety and lead to a mentally stronger and happier you.
How does it work?
Squish uses three basic senses to interrupt negative thoughts and emotions you may be having and bring your mind back to the here and now. This technique is part of what some people call ‘grounding’ and is a quick and effective way of providing instant relief to mental chaos. Here is a quick overview of how this works.
Scent
Scent is one of the most powerful senses we have. Unlike the others it is linked directly to our most primitive part of the brain that controls memories and basic emotions such as the fight or flight instinct.This is also the part of the brain that impacts anxiety levels and how we react to different stresses. Using different combinations of aromatherapy oils Squish refocus your attention from the thoughts in your head to what you are experiencing in the here and now.
Sight
Your eyes are powerful tools providing us with a never ending stream of data during our waking hours. In turn our brains have to interpret this information. If you take a moment to really look at your surroundings you will become aware of just how much information is ignored by your brain. While working Squish in your hands really pay attention to how it looks, colour, shape size etc.. By doing this you are redirecting your thoughts to what is actually in front of you.
Touch
When you think of other calming aids you can buy they nearly all centre around touch. Stress balls, fidget spinners/cubes etc. have long been used to as a way of distracting your mind and realigning your thoughts. The beauty of Squish is it goes through many different tactile changes as you play with it, for example think about how cool it when you first bring it out of its tin and how it warms the more you play with it. These changes help focus the mind on what is in your hands rather than what is buzzing through your mind.
Squish Therapy Dough combines all of the benefits above as well as being
So if you are looking for an instant boost to your mental health give Squish Therapy Dough a try. It is currently available in three scents - Relax (lavender and vanilla) Restore (eucalyptus and mint) and Revive (lemon and grapefruit).
For more information on the uses and benefits of each Squish you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@squish.therapy.dough)
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