# I have a cold. Any tricks for making sense of taste come back faster? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-cold-any-tricks-for-making-sense-of-taste-come-back-faster/285305 "2005-01-18T03:49:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-cold-any-tricks-for-making-sense-of-taste-come-back-faster/285305/1 "2005-01-18T03:49:26Z")
Having a cold is no fun, but I generally don’t mind most of it too much. The only part I _do_ mind is losing my sense of taste. I hate having to endure eating cardboard for three or four days, and would love to know any tricks for coaxing the old taste buds back to life any faster. Any remedies/over-the-counter medications/etc. that you’ve found effective? Please share! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-cold-any-tricks-for-making-sense-of-taste-come-back-faster/285305/2 "2005-01-18T03:57:00Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > would love to know any tricks for coaxing the old taste buds back to life any faster. From what I recall, the problem isn’t your taste buds, but your sense of smell (which makes up the majority of your sense of taste, as well). Unfortunately, I know of no way to speed up the recovery of your sense of smell. If I did, I’d certainly be using it right now, as I’ve got a cold, too. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-cold-any-tricks-for-making-sense-of-taste-come-back-faster/285305/3 "2005-01-18T04:03:32Z")
For short-term benefits, I’ve been given several suggestions. These ones always work for me: sneezes and orgasms. They make it easier to get your nose cleared, but it usually doesn’t last too long. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-cold-any-tricks-for-making-sense-of-taste-come-back-faster/285305/4 "2005-01-18T05:12:25Z")
Snort wasabi. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-cold-any-tricks-for-making-sense-of-taste-come-back-faster/285305/5 "2005-01-18T05:29:57Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > Snort wasabi. Is this an example of the cure being worse than the disease? However, I bet that it’d be quite amuse to watch. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-cold-any-tricks-for-making-sense-of-taste-come-back-faster/285305/6 "2005-01-18T06:04:34Z")
Sometimes, saline nasal spray helps to dry up the nose without the backlash of nasal decongestant sprays or the zincification of your taste and smell senses that zinc lozenges give you. Sometimes, it doesn’t help, but at worst, it’s harmless. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-cold-any-tricks-for-making-sense-of-taste-come-back-faster/285305/7 "2005-01-19T01:27:21Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > Snort wasabi. I generally blast my sinuses out with some tobasco sauce or cayenne pepper. YMMV but it generally allows me to taste heavily seasoned meals whereas I couldn’t taste anything without it. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-cold-any-tricks-for-making-sense-of-taste-come-back-faster/285305/8 "2005-01-19T04:45:42Z")
> [@Joe Random](#): > > From what I recall, the problem isn’t your taste buds, but your sense of smell (which makes up the majority of your sense of taste, as well). Unfortunately, I know of no way to speed up the recovery of your sense of smell. If I did, I’d certainly be using it right now, as I’ve got a cold, too. Yeah, I know that about the taste buds. It was just sort of poetic license. 🙂 Thanks for the suggestions, everybody. I don’t think I’ll be snorting any wasabi, but I’ll give the saline nasal spray a try and see if it works.