The sense of smell isn’t something we typically take for granted, but it can affect everyday life when it’s gone. If you can’t smell, it may be more difficult to taste food, and may even lead to dangerous situations if you can’t detect smoke or a gas leak.
While it is possible for someone to permanently lose their ability to smell, it is much more common for it to only happen for a period of a few days to a couple of weeks. Anosmia (the complete loss of smell) and hyposmia (partial loss of smell), affect thousands of Americans each year.