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Smell and taste after a laryngectomy | CION Cancer Clinics
Smell goes after a laryngectomy because you now breathe through the stoma in your neck, so air never reaches the smell nerves inside the nose. The nerves are not damaged. Food tastes flat because most flavour is smell. Many people get a useful sense of smell back with a simple technique called polite yawning, taught by a speech therapist. This page explains why it happens, what helps, and the one safety gap to plan for. CION Cancer Clinics’ surgical oncologists in Hyderabad can talk this through with you.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Muralidhar MuddusettyConsultant Surgical Oncologist · MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery, AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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The short answer
Why does smell go after a laryngectomy?
Smell goes because air no longer passes through your nose. After the operation you breathe in and out through the stoma in your neck, so the air that carries smells never reaches the smell nerves high inside the nose. The nerves themselves still work. They are simply not being used.
Why that matters for taste too
Most of what we call taste is smell. The tongue picks up only sweet, salt, sour, bitter and savoury. The flavour of biryani, of coffee, of a ripe mango, comes from smell reaching the nose from the back of the mouth as you chew. With no air moving through the nose, food tastes flat, even though the tongue is untouched.
Why this is different from a cold
With a cold the nose is blocked. After a laryngectomy the nose is open but empty of moving air. That is good news, because it means smell can be brought back by learning to pull air through the nose another way, without any surgery and without any device. Many people get a useful sense of smell back with a simple technique described below.
This page is about total laryngectomy. If only part of the voice box was removed and you still breathe through your nose, smell should be unchanged.Getting it back
How does the polite yawning technique work?
The idea is to make a small vacuum in the mouth so that air is sucked in through the nose, carrying smell with it.
Close your lips
Keep the lips together throughout. This is the yawn you do in a meeting when you do not want anyone to notice, which is where the name comes from.
Drop the jaw and tongue
With the lips still closed, lower the jaw and pull the tongue down and back, as if yawning. The space in your mouth gets bigger, and air rushes in through the nose to fill it.
Repeat quickly
Do it several times in a row, in short pulls, like sniffing with the mouth closed. Each pull draws a little more air across the smell nerves. Start near something with a strong smell: coffee, jasmine, an orange peel.
Practise until it is automatic
A speech therapist can watch and correct you in a session or two. With daily practice most people stop having to think about it and begin to notice smells again in ordinary life.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistDay to day
Where does losing smell actually bite?
In the kitchen
You cannot tell when milk has boiled over, when tadka is burning, or when food has gone off. Use a timer, look at the pan, and let someone else check whether leftovers are still good.
At the table
Food tastes flat, so appetite falls and weight can drop. Sour, tangy and spicy flavours still come through on the tongue. Lemon, tamarind, pickle and chilli do more for enjoyment than salt does.
Helps most
- Strong seasoning, not more salt
- Different textures on the plate
- Polite yawning before the first bite
Personal hygiene
You cannot smell your own sweat, your breath or the stoma secretions. This worries people more than it should. Wash and change on a routine rather than by checking, and ask one trusted family member to tell you honestly.
The memories that come with smell
Incense at a temple, rain on dry ground, a grandchild's hair. Losing these is a real grief and it is not silly to say so. Polite yawning brings some of them back, and many people say that is the moment the technique becomes worth the effort.
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The safety gap you must plan for
You will not smell a gas leak, smoke from a fire, or food burning on the stove. Fit a smoke alarm in the kitchen and the bedroom. If you use an LPG cylinder, ask a family member to check the regulator and pipe regularly, and turn the cylinder off at the valve whenever the stove is not in use. Do not rely on noticing a smell that you can no longer detect.
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Commonly believed
Four things families tell us about smell and taste
"The surgeon must have damaged the nose."
The operation does not touch the nose or the smell nerves. Smell goes only because air stops flowing through the nose. This is why the technique works: it moves air through a nose that is perfectly able to smell.
"Smell will come back on its own after a few months."
It will not, because the airflow does not return on its own. Some people find a rough version of the technique by accident, but most need to be shown. Ask the speech therapist to teach it rather than waiting.
"He has stopped eating because he is depressed."
Sometimes, and low mood after this operation is common and worth raising. But flat-tasting food on its own is enough to kill appetite. Fix the flavour first, with stronger seasoning and the technique, and see whether the eating follows.
"Taste is gone, so there is no point cooking anything nice."
The tongue still works. Sour, spicy, salty and sweet all come through, and texture and temperature are unchanged. People who keep eating varied food keep their weight and, once they learn the technique, get much of the flavour back.
Did you know
The polite yawning technique was worked out by speech therapists and surgeons in the Netherlands, who noticed that a few of their patients had taught themselves to smell again by moving the jaw in a particular way. It costs nothing, needs no equipment, and can be learned in a few sessions.
Being straight with you
What else affects taste, and what this page cannot tell you
Smell is the biggest reason food tastes flat, but not the only one. If you had radiotherapy to the neck, the saliva glands may make less saliva, and a dry mouth dulls taste on the tongue itself. Some chemotherapy drugs change taste for weeks afterwards. Mouth infections, especially thrush, and some regular medicines also alter taste.
What helps a dry mouth
Frequent sips of water, moist food with gravy, avoiding very salty or very dry snacks, and keeping the mouth clean. Ask the team about saliva substitutes if dryness is severe. Tell them if the tongue looks white or eating hurts, because thrush is easy to treat.
What this page cannot tell you
How much smell you personally will get back. Some people recover a great deal, some only a little, and the difference depends on how well the technique is learned, on the shape of the mouth and throat after the operation, and on practice. It cannot tell you whether a change in taste is from the operation or from something else. If taste changes suddenly months later, or one side of the tongue feels different, have it checked rather than assuming.
Nose sprays and vitamin supplements sold for smell loss after viral illness are for a different problem. They do nothing for a nose that has no air moving through it.Questions we are asked
Common questions about smell and taste after laryngectomy
Will he ever smell again?
Many people do, to a useful degree, by learning polite yawning. It draws air through the nose without using the lungs. Results vary, and it needs practice, but it is free and safe. Ask the speech therapist to teach it early rather than waiting to see whether smell returns by itself, because it will not.
Is taste actually damaged, or only smell?
The tongue is not touched by the operation, so true taste is intact. What is lost is the flavour that comes through the nose, which is most of what makes food enjoyable. Radiotherapy, a dry mouth, thrush and some medicines can also dull taste on the tongue, and those can be treated.
How do we make food taste of something?
Lean on the tongue. Sour, spicy, salty and sweet still come through. Lemon, tamarind, curd, pickle, ginger and chilli all help. Vary texture and temperature. Serve smaller portions more often, and try the polite yawning technique just before eating so that some smell reaches the nose.
Is it safe for him to cook?
Yes, with precautions. Use a timer, keep the pan in sight, and fit a smoke alarm. The real danger is gas. Turn the cylinder off at the valve after every use and have someone else check the pipe and regulator. Never rely on smelling a leak.
Can he smell through the stoma instead?
No. The smell nerves are inside the nose, high up, and only air passing through the nose reaches them. Air going in and out of the stoma goes straight to the lungs. Some people notice a faint smell from strong fumes near the neck, but it is not reliable and not useful.
Why does he say his food tastes metallic?
A metallic or bitter taste is more often from chemotherapy, radiotherapy, a mouth infection or a medicine than from the operation itself. Mention it at the next visit, because thrush and dry mouth are both treatable. Eating with plastic cutlery and adding sour flavours help some people meanwhile.
Does losing smell affect breathing or safety at night?
Breathing is not affected by the loss of smell. Safety at night is, because you will not wake to the smell of smoke or gas. A smoke alarm in the bedroom covers the first. Turning the gas cylinder off at the valve before bed covers the second. Both are cheap and worth doing the week you get home.
Who teaches the polite yawning technique?
A speech and swallowing therapist, usually the same person who teaches you to speak again. Ask for it by name at your first outpatient visit. If your centre does not offer it, ask for a referral. A family member can learn the steps alongside you and help you practise at home.
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Sources
- Macmillan Cancer Support — Laryngectomy
- Cancer Research UK — Laryngeal cancer
- American Cancer Society — Surgery for laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer
- NHS — Laryngeal (larynx) cancer: treatment
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
Keep reading
Related pages
Swallowing and Eating After LaryngectomyKeeping weight on when food tastes flatBreathing Through a Neck StomaWhy air no longer passes through the noseWhat Changes in Your Body After LaryngectomyThe whole picture of what the operation altersEmergency Care: Why Mouth-to-Mouth Will Not WorkThe other safety planning every family should doRecovery, Eating and Getting Back to LifeAppetite and protein after any cancer operation
Talk to us
Want help getting smell and appetite back?
Tell us where you are after the operation. We will help you reach a speech and swallowing therapist who can teach the technique and a dietitian who can keep the weight on. One helpline serves every CION centre.