When coronavirus robs you of your sense of smell - MSN Money

"What I miss most is the smell of my son when I kiss him, the smell of my wife's body," says Jean-Michel Maillard.

Anosmia -- the loss of one's sense of smell -- may be an invisible handicap, but is psychologically difficult to live with and has no real treatment, he says.

You only truly become aware of your sense of smell when you lose it, says Maillard, who lost his own following an accident.

Eating is a completely different experience too, as so much of what we appreciate in food is what we can smell, says Alain Corre, an ear, nose and throat specialist at the Hopital-Fondation Rothschild in Paris.

"There are dozens of causes of anosmia," he says, including nasal polyps, chronic rhinitis, diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

"To be deprived of your sense of smell for a month, it's not serious," says Maillard.

You have to address the cause, says Corre, but "the problem of the anosmias linked to the virus is that often, the treatment of the viral infection has no effect on your smell.

One cortisone-based treatment has proved effective in treating post-cold instances of anosmia and offers some hope, says Corre.