An accident took away his sense of taste — and his joy. Here's what doctors say may help

Dear Doctor Roach: My 82-year-old husband is unable to smell or taste. This has been the case since 2024, when he was hit by a car while out for a walk. He sustained a compression fracture to his spine.

While he wasn’t knocked out, he did get thrown backward and sustained some trauma to his head. Since then, he’s had no sense of smell or taste.